


Evil on the Rise

by DoctorMerlinReid



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Pendragon Returns, F/M, Immortal Merlin, Merlin's Magic Revealed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-04-29
Packaged: 2018-03-26 10:03:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3846760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorMerlinReid/pseuds/DoctorMerlinReid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin has waited twenty five thousand years for the day that Arthur returns. When Merlin literally runs into him and his knights on their way to Gwen's house, he is overjoyed. And a little weary. With help from his beloved Freya, will he be able to set right other people's wrongs? Will he finally achieve his destiny?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: Hi. The usual: please review and let me know if it's good or bad. I hope you like it!

Merlin rounded the corner, readjusting his customary neckerchief before going any further. In the past twenty five thousand years or so, Merlin's outfits really hadn't changed that much. He had his neckerchiefs, he wore denim jeans and a soft brown leather jacket, and he had on either a blue or a red t-shirt. Same old, same old. His brown messenger bag rested across his chest and he spared a moment to look down at it. Wrong move.

As he was looking down, he was also continuing to walk forward. However, someone coming the opposite direction down the street was also walking forward. And talking to their friends. And not paying attention. They smashed into each other and Merlin fell back onto the sidewalk. The blond sneered down at him, "Watch where you're going." Merlin didn't care. He was too busy staring at the retreating group of friends. He was too busy staring at the blond who sounded and acted and looked exactly like him. Like King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot. And the people who were with him. Who looked exactly like the knights of the round table.

Merlin's mind was whirling as he got back up, absentmindedly readjusting his neckerchief, and walked to his normal café. He wasn't sure if he was just hallucinating, or if he really just accidently ran into the reincarnation of Arthur. The warlock pulled out his laptop, the waitress already getting Merlin his usual without needing to ask. He opened a search engine and typed in 'Arthur Pendragon 2015'. He came up with nothing. He then searched 'Uther Pendragon', but still: nada.

The waitress slid Merlin's tea to him and he deftly stopped it and started drinking immediately. She raised an eyebrow, "You seem awfully busy today, Merlin. By the way, cook's orders: you never have to pay for your tea again. Something about coming here for a year straight and getting the exact same thing. Are you even processing my words?" Merlin blinked at her, "Um. Yeah. I think so. I don't have to pay for my tea and I seem busy. Right?" She smiled fondly and ruffled his hair. "See you tomorrow, Merlin." "You too, Finna!" Merlin called out cheerfully before continuing his search.

For fifteen minutes, he couldn't find anything. He was starting to get frustrated when it hit him that Arthur should be around the right age that he should be going to school. Well, school started in about a week. Merlin tried to find a way to look at the roster, but then realized that it was impossible. Finding no other way, he went onto the school website and after hovering over it for a while, he clicked 'Enroll'.

Arthur was still indignant about being plowed into by that gangly kid on his way to Gwen's house. He was saying, "I mean, who does he think he is to just run into me like that? Doesn't he know who I am?" Gwaine rolled his eyes, "Not everyone can recognize a princess on sight my lady." Lance chimed in, "And I'm pretty sure that you ran into him."Arthur huffed before waltzing into Gwen's house like he owned the place. Well, his father technically owned the place, being the realtor that sold almost every house in the city. That wasn't important though. Gwen wrapped her mocha colored arms around him the moment he stepped into the house. She was smiling brightly. Leon had been assaulted by Morgana running to jump into his arms and kiss him full on.

Gwaine was staring at Leon and Morgana with a tad bit too much interest for Arthur's taste, "Gwaine, you really should get your own girlfriend instead of staring at my sister and her boyfriend." Gwaine grinned sheepishly at him and plopped into a sofa. Gwen and Arthur squeezed into one side of a love seat with Leon and Morgana on the other. Percival and Elyan sat on either side of Gwaine and Lance took one of the other chairs. Mordred just leaned against the wall. He would sit down when he wanted to, not when everyone else did.

Mordred snickered, "Arthur plowed some poor kid to the ground today." He knew what the immediate reaction would be. Gwen leaned away from Arthur and gave him an eyebrow worthy of her and her brother, Elyan's, adopted father, Gaius. He insisted that they all call him by his first name. Gwen's father had been killed in a drunken driving accident. He, Gwen's mother, Arthur's mother, and Arthur's father had all been in the car. Only Arthur's dad survived. It was a sore spot for the whole group who had known each other practically since they were kids. Everyone's parents were everyone else's parents. Gwen started her lecture with a shrill, "What did you do?"

Arthur scowled at Mordred who only grinned broader, "It wasn't my fault. He wasn't looking where he was going. He was messing with his man purse." Arthur sniffed daintily. Percival frowned, "I think it's called a messenger bag." Arthur glared at him, "Same difference." Percival shrugged and let Gwen continue to berate Arthur for not paying attention and for being rude.

Gaius finally walked in and rescued him, "I don't feel like cooking tonight, so I am going to order pizza. Shall I get the usual?" Everyone nodded solemnly. Conversation picked up again when he left. Eventually it turned to the conversation of school. Elyan sighed, "Ugh. I don't want to go to school next week." Morgana flopped back onto Leon dramatically, "Don't remind me! I don't want summer to end!" The group nodded their whole-hearted agreement. Gwen turned to Arthur, "If that kid that you ran into is at school, I want you to apologize to him." "But why? I didn't do anything! He ran into me!" Gwen raised that eyebrow again and Arthur wilted beneath her, "Yes ma'am."

Gwaine started laughing hysterically and everyone looked at him, "You were cowed by a girl, like, half your size. I'm sorry. That's just hilarious." Gwen stalked from Arthur's lap to stand in front of Gwaine. His laughter died out immediately. Arthur spoke up behind them, "That, my friend, is because she is terrifying in her eternal beauty." Gwen's face lit up and she all but ran to Arthur, "That was so romantic!" Arthur laughed, delighted that he was off the hook. Gwen was spending too much time with Morgana. She was starting to become independent. Just then, Gaius came in with the pizza and they fell to.

Merlin wound his way back around corners and up streets to his apartment. He threw his keys into the key dish and plopped down at his desk. "You seem tired Merlin. Have you been getting enough sleep?" Merlin jumped at the voice that sounded like a creek bubbling. "Jeez Freya, you gave me a heart attack. And yes, I've been getting enough sleep." Her laugh sounded crystal clear from the bowl that her face appeared in. Merlin had realized that if he took some water from the Lake of Avalon and put it in a bowl, he would be able to talk to Freya all the time. She had loved the idea and soon they talked every single night. They would catch each other up on the events of the day and then they would just talk about anything and everything. Sometimes Merlin would even angle the bowl so Freya could see the TV and they would watch movies together.

"Oh Merlin, you are so sweet. But you do seem upset. What's troubling you?" Freya continued. Merlin smiled, it was so full of hope and yet still so guarded because he really couldn't afford hope, "I could have sworn that I saw Arthur and the knights today. I was walking and not really paying attention to where I was going-," Freya cut him off, "As per usual." Merlin cut her a quick grin before continuing, "and then all of a sudden I ran into someone. They use this pompous tone so much like Arthur's and say, 'Watch where you're going.' And then they and the people who looked like the knights, were gone. They walked away."

Freya tilted her head contemplatively, "Did you look them up?" He nodded distractedly, "Yeah. I couldn't find any mention of them or their parents. So I thought that maybe they would be going to school and there's only one high school in this whole town, so I tried to find a roster for that. I couldn't get a roster so I did the only thing I could. I enrolled in high school." Freya's face lit up, "That is so cool! I can't believe you actually did that! You have to get school supplies you know. And you should definitely get some new outfits. People with not a lot of outfits get picked on because people think that they're poor."

She said it so innocently, but Merlin knew better. She had been trying to get him to change his outfit for centuries. Merlin gave her a playful glare, "I actually don't know what I'm supposed to have for school now that I think about it. It's been, what, two hundred years since I went to school last? I doubt I need the same things." Freya frowned, worrying her lip in that adorable habit that Merlin had picked up, "They might have a list on the website?" She offered.

"Mm! Good idea! Let me go get some food real quick and then I'll look it up." He went to the kitchen and grabbed some left over Chinese food. He heated it up with a whispered word and then sat back down in his chair. "What's the school called?" Freya asked. Merlin gave her a droll stare, "You wouldn't believe it." She smiled in anticipation. "It's called Camelot High. The irony in that. That's also why I think that maybe, just maybe, this is what we've been waiting for." Freya puffed up at the 'we'. She loved it when he automatically included her in his plans. It made her feel so loved.

"I think the whole thing is quite ironic. I mean, you've been waiting for, like, twenty five thousand years now and you find him by running into him. What are the odds of that?" He laughed. She loved the sound of his laugh. He was so beautiful and she was so lucky that she had him. "I love you Merlin." He turned his suddenly serious sea blue eyes on her, "I love you too Freya. I love you more than anything." Her eyes misted up and then the moment was broken by a ping on the computer.

Merlin half jumped out of his seat, "Jeez! Everyone is trying to kill me today!" Freya laughed and he pulled up the list of items he needed. He angled her bowl so she could see. Merlin ate his food while conjuring up various school supplies with suggestions from Freya to make things look hip or smart. They spent the rest of the night laughing and talking.

It was a week later and Arthur and his friends piled into homeroom together. He had gotten his dad to get the group together in a homeroom class by themselves. Arthur sat in the middle of the room, with Gwen on his right and Leon on his left. Elyan sat on Gwen's other side and Morgana on Leon's. Gwaine, Percival, and Mordred sat behind them.

About thirty seconds after the bell rang, Merlin came practically running in. He was wearing his red shirt and his blue neckerchief. He plopped unceremoniously in front of Arthur.

Arthur was shocked. For one, that was the kid that he had run into (a fact that Elyan was gleefully sharing with Gwen), and for another, his dad had said that they would be in this homeroom alone. Why was this kid here?

Merlin was slightly out of breath. Schools were a lot smaller two hundred years ago. And by smaller he meant they were one room. Sometimes they weren't even one room. They just had school outside. Or at home. Now, schools were bigger than castles. It was ridiculous! The teacher, a strict looking women with her blond hair hanging in waves down her back and her brown eyes that told you that yes, she was serious, raised an eyebrow at Merlin. She started to speak and Merlin gave a start as he realized that, holy cow, this woman was Morgause, "Young man, what is your name?"

He scoffed in his mind, Young indeed, before answering, "My name is Merlin Emrys, ma'am." With Morgause, he figured that he would be better off being polite. "Well Mr. Emrys, you were late. I will not let that go without punishment. I expect a paper written by tomorrow about the historical value of being on time. Is that understood?" Merlin nodded distractedly, "Yes ma'am." He was writing the assignment down in his assignment journal.

Gwen smiled into her hand, whispering to Arthur, "Poor kid. I think your cousin Morgause doesn't like him." Arthur snickered and passed the message on. Morgause turned around and said, "On a more pleasant note, my name is Ms. Gorlois. Most of you know me by Morgause, but I'm afraid that you can't call me that at school, alright? Good. Now, I'm going to call roll. Say here. If you say anything else, I will count you as absent and woe be it to any of you whose parents get a 'your child skipped school' message."

She went down the list and everyone called out 'here' like she asked them to, "Percival Armstrong, Leon Boleyn, Mordred Clarent, Lancelot du Lac, Merlin Emrys, Gwaine Noble, Arthur Pendragon, Morgana Pendragon, Elyan Smith, and Gweneviere Smith. Good, everyone's here." Luckily no one had noticed Merlin jerk with every name that was called as if someone had stabbed him each time. Morgause continued, "Unfortunately, all we have to do today is go over the syllabus and get to know one another. Take one and pass it back if you please. You are a small homeroom class, which is good because it means that there will be more time for doing nothing, or homework, but for most of you, I doubt that."

Merlin smiled, then frowned as he realized that if these reincarnations led a life that was at all similar to that of before, he would probably end up doing their homework for them. Great. They read through the syllabus and were about to start talking amongst themselves when Morgause spoke up, "Not quite yet. In a moment you guys can talk, but for now, let's get to know Merlin. You all know each other and he knows no one." That wasn't quite true, but Merlin let it slide, opting instead to say, "Oh, really, it's no issue. I'm fine. I'm really not that interesting anyways."

Ms. Gorlois raised both eyebrows and said, "I don't think I gave you a choice." Merlin gulped and walked to the front of the class. Morgause said, "Every person will ask one question. We will go in alphabetical order. Percival, go."

Percival sighed before thinking for a moment and finally deciding on, "How old are you?" Merlin lied and said that he was 15, because that's how old the rest of them were.

Next it was Leon's turn, "What classes are you taking?" He listed off the classes he was taking. Evidently he had at least one class with all of them.

Then Mordred went. The sound of his voice made Merlin shiver with hatred, "Do you have any siblings?" Merlin answered no.

Lance asked, "Who do you live with then?" Merlin deflated a little at that question. It had hurt when his dad had died in that forest, but it was worse when he saw his mother waste away from a plague that he couldn't cure. He said that he didn't live with anyone. He had been given the go ahead to live on his own.

Gwaine asked who his best mate was and Merlin answered that he didn't have a best friend. What he didn't say was that all his best friends were dead or reborn with no memory of him.

Arthur, looking bored, asked, "What's your favorite color?" Merlin immediately answered red. He really wanted to say Camelot red, but they would think that he meant the school. They had more of a burgundy red where the real Camelot's red color was bright and vibrant.

Morgana, whose voice also sent pieces of glass crawling down his spine, asked, "Do you have a girlfriend?" His ears turned slightly pink as he answered that yes, he did have a girlfriend.

Elyan rolled his eyes at Morgana's antics and asked, "What's your favorite movie?" Merlin's favorite movie was definitely the whole Harry Potter series, mainly because Freya loved it.

Gwen, who was last, asked, "So who is this girlfriend?" Merlin smiled at her; he just couldn't help it, "Her name is Freya, but she lives in a different part of England. We have a long distance relationship." Morgana perked up, "You know, long distance relationships are very hard to keep up. You should probably have a number two waiting at the ready for the inevitable breakup." Merlin's face closed off when she spoke, a fact missed by none of them. His voice was cold when he answered, "They are not hard to maintain when it is true love. We have been keeping up with this long distance relationship for years now. I'm pretty sure that I'm fine." He sat back down in his chair and pulled out a book.

He could sense Arthur leaning over his shoulder to see what he was reading. He felt his disappointment when Arthur realized that it was in a language that he didn't speak. Of course, the only language Arthur is likely to know is English, knowing him. Inside, Merlin's mind was in tumult. They really had been reincarnated. That meant something bad was going to happen, but what? And when? And what could he do to stop it?

He almost missed it was Gwen called his name. "Hm? Yeah?" Merlin turned around, a patience grown from thousands of years of waiting the only thing that kept him from throwing his arms around Arthur and crying. Gwen smiled at him a bit nervously, "Um, well, have you heard of the Pencil Shaker? The café?" He nodded hesitantly. "Oh, good. Well, um, I- or we- have been wondering if perhaps you would like to join us at the Pencil Shaker tonight. We were going to celebrate the beginning of the school year. Thought you might want to meet us there. It's at five." Merlin smiled, "I'd love to. I think it's cool that you celebrate the beginning of school. Most people don't do that."

Mordred attempted to pull a Gwaine and dramatically flip his hair while saying, "Well, we aren't most people." The group laughed, but then they noticed that Merlin's face had hardened and he had turned away when Mordred started to talk. Morgana and Mordred exchanged startled looks. What had they done to get his hatred?

Merlin didn't want to hate Mordred and Morgana. It was just that it was so hard to see these teenagers and not see who they were. He could never forgive Mordred for betraying his identity and for killing Arthur. He could never forgive Morgana for killing Gwaine, Lance, Elyan, and so many more. And yet, those same people were boring holes into the back of his head right that instant. It was confusing to say the least. He would talk to Freya about it when he got home.

The rest of the day had passed without incident. Arthur was in at least five classes with Merlin and he was quite impressed with how smart he was. He seemed really shy though. Arthur was slightly glad that Gwen had invited him to their little meeting, but he was a little apprehensive as well. They were a group who had been together since birth and now some new guy is waltzing it. It was disconcerting.

Then there was the fact that the kid seemed to hate Mordred and Morgana, even though he's never met them before. It was weird and he was determined to remedy it as fast as he could.

He was sitting with the guys and Gwen and Morgana in a corner at the front of the restaurant, waiting for Merlin. It wasn't quite five yet – they had all arrived early – but he still felt like Merlin was late. Eventually, he bumbled in and sat down at the table, grinning shyly. Gwaine knuckled his head and said, "Finally! I thought you'd never show up! I hope you don't mind that we already ordered our stuff. We got here a little early." Merlin mumbled that it was fine. Arthur was surprised. Normally, people were very weirded out when Gwaine did that.

Gwaine was determined that he would be able to tell who he would like by how they reacted to his knuckle to head regime. Just then the waitress came over and smiled like Merlin had made her day, "Well, it's good to see you again. You'll have your usual, Merlin?" He smiled at her and said, "Yes, please. Oh, and Finna, I heard through the grape vine that you were sighted at the ring store. Finally planning on proposing to Alator?" She laughed, "Nope. He proposed to me!" Merlin's grin somehow managed to get even bigger as he got up to give her a hug, "Congratulations, Finna!" She smiled and laughed again, "Alright now, I'll be right out with your meal. Oh, and the cook says that your free food applies to any food at any time of the day. We wouldn't want our most valued customer to think he was being slighted." She winked at him before sauntering away.

When Merlin turned back to look at the group, they were looking at him in awe. "What?" He asked defensively. Elyan leaned across the table and shook Merlin's hand, deadpanning, "You are my hero." Merlin's eyebrows squished together, "For what?" Gwen laughed and Morgana answered, "That lady is the meanest person to ever live. At least she is to kids and teenagers. You, however, actually know her and know her well. I mean, she hugged you. That task is tantamount to the Herculean tasks." Merlin scowled at her, "She's a nice person and she deserves some friends in her life. She's had a tough time and you really can't blame her for how she acts."

Arthur had had enough, "Alright Merlin, maybe you thought it was okay the first time, but this is too far. What do you have against Mordred and Morgana? Why do you hate them so much?" Merlin's lips tightened into a thin white line and he shrugged noncommittally. He was saved from further questioning by Finna returning with his meal. Gwaine had already moved the conversation in a different direction and for that Merlin was grateful.

After about an hour and a half of talking and laughing, Merlin stood up, "Thank you all for inviting me, but I have to go. I do have an essay to right for tomorrow. I'll see you then." He walked out the door, waving to Finna as he left. He was about halfway home when the creature detached itself from the shadows and attacked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Please review, good or bad, and tell me what you liked and what you didn't like. Also, if you have any questions, or need anything cleared up, just let me know. Hope you enjoy! (Oh, and by the by, I don't own Merlin). 
> 
> PS: And by me saying please review, I mean PLEASE review. Thanks!

Arthur still wasn't sure what to think about Merlin. He seemed nice enough. He was smart and funny. Merlin was really quiet though, like, not shy quiet, but the world threw everything at him quiet. Also, it was unusual the way he seemed to fit in with the group. The second he started talking, he said all the right things to make people happy, to make them laugh. And yet, Arthur still wasn't sure about him.

Morgana was especially quiet compared to usual. She kept most of her snarky responses to herself and almost seemed to draw into herself. It was frightening to see how much power Merlin had over her. One snapped response and she was as good as broken. Gwen spoke up, thankfully disrupting Arthur's inner ramblings, "Oh dear, Merlin left his phone!" Merlin had been showing Elyan and Lance (ever the computer geeks) all of the 'oh so cool' modifications he had done to his phone. Lance stood up, "I'll just go give it to him quick. He can't be that far away."

"We'll all go." Arthur cut in, "We've been here long enough anyways. Come on." They had paid for their meals about a half an hour ago and were starting to get vicious looks from the staff. They grabbed their stuff and moved towards the door as a pack.

The boys stayed close to their girls when they had them and they crossed the streets and wound through alleyways. After ten minutes of walking, Percival asked, "Are you sure this is the right way? I mean, we have to be getting close by now." Gwaine shrugged, "I think so. This looks right. He said that he lives a ways away from the school and this is a ways away from the school." Leon sighed and rolled his eyes. Suddenly they heard the sound of something hard hitting flesh and a gasp of surprise. Glancing quickly at each other, they ran towards the sound.

The creature that jumped from the shadows wasn't large. It was probably about the size of Merlin, maybe a little shorter, and it had about the same build. Merlin wondered if maybe it was a Sidhe. If it was, that would suck. Whatever it was, it had just punched Merlin in the face and that did not make him happy. In some faraway part of his mind, he heard the sound of running footsteps coming ever closer. That was the only thing that stopped him from using his magic to beat this creature to kingdom come.

The thing reared back for another strike and Merlin saw it for what it was: a human. Merlin's jaw clenched and his nostrils flared in anger. Why couldn't humans just leave other humans alone? Why did they always need to hurt each other? The man's fist swung straight towards his face and he ducked, rolling into a ball and then back onto his feet behind the man. The move had taken no more than several seconds.

The man swirled around, but he was too slow for Merlin. His hand was already out and aiming for a spot between the man's neck and shoulder. If he hit it right, the man would be knocked unconscious and not feel any pain. He would, however be very confused when he woke up. If he hit it wrong, however, it could kill the man. Merlin hit the spot. The man collapsed onto the ground, either unconscious or dead, Merlin didn't know, but he intended to find out.

He fell to his knees beside the would be mugger and put his fingertips to the man's throat as he had been taught to do by Gaius. There was a pulse, sluggishly moving the man's blood throughout his body. Merlin's body slumped in relief.

"Merlin! Are you alright?" The voice startled Merlin into whipping into a fighting stance, with his feet planted firmly and a piece of pipe that had been lying nearby clenched in his hand. Mordred stopped abruptly, almost falling over in his attempt to defy inertia. The warlock closed his eyes and slumped against the wall, "You scared me." Mordred had been moving closer, but he stopped and a muscle jumped in his jaw, "I'm sorry."

Somehow Mordred had managed to get ahead of the others because they pulled up to a stop near Merlin a couple of seconds later. Gwaine clapped Merlin on the back, "That was some impressive footwork, my friend. I am slightly concerned for the legal implications that this unfortunate circumstance has brought about, however." The whole group turned to stare at Gwaine except for Merlin who had heard such things from him before.

He smiled tiredly at Gwaine, "He'll be fine. I hit him on a certain weak spot so he would be knocked unconscious, but not feel any pain." Morgana frowned at him, "Doesn't that take like a really precise amount of pressure? Too much and you'll kill him and too little and he won't be knocked out kind of thing?" Merlin allowed a smile to cross his face and he nodded. "What are you guys doing here anyways? I thought you said that you lived on the other side of town." Gwen stepped forward, "We do, but we just wanted to return your phone and we didn't think that you'd be so far away already, so we, um, came." He nodded thoughtfully, taking the proffered phone.

"I just had a great idea!" Gwaine exclaimed and the others groaned. He glared at them, "What if we all headed over to Merlin's place, you know just to see it now that we're going to be best mates and all? Perhaps we can meet this long distance girl friend of his." His smile faded when he looked at Merlin, who said, "I don't think that's the best idea. I mean, my house is a mess and there are things all over the place…" He trailed off when he saw the hopeful faces of his friends, "Fine. But only for as long as it takes for someone to come and pick you up. As you can tell, this isn't the nicest neighborhood to be running around at night in." Gwen and Morgana squealed as Merlin led the way out of the alley.

About five minutes later, they reached the apartment building. Merlin was fitting the key into the lock while suggesting that someone should call their parents to come pick them up or something. Arthur pulled out his sleek phone and speed dialed his dad's number.

"Hello? Arthur?"

"Hey Dad, it's me. Morgana, Gwen, Lance, Percival, Gwaine, Elyan, and Mordred are all here with me. We're visiting a new friend from school. The one that we invited to the Pencil Shaker. I was wondering if you could come and pick us up."

"Where are you?"

Arthur glanced back at Merlin who looked at him at the same time and mouthed the words: where are we. Merlin rolled his eyes and answered. Arthur relayed the address to his father.

"Alright. Someone will come and pick you up. It'll take about a half an hour, understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. And Arthur, I don't want you hanging around with this friend too often. If he lives in that part of town then he can't be worthy of you."

"I'll keep that in mind sir."

Before anything else could be said, Uther Pendragon had ended the call. Arthur sighed and shared a look with Morgana. That had Uther written all over it. He couldn't possibly waste time on his children that would be better spent on making plans for his precious company. Sometimes Arthur was jealous of people like Merlin who didn't have to live with his parents. How much easier and happier would his life be without Uther standing over him every day all day? How much better of a person would Arthur be?

Then they had climbed the stairs and reached Merlin's apartment. He pulled a piece of paper from where it was wedged between the door and its frame before leading them inside.

He really hadn't been kidding when he said that his place was a mess. The main room consisted of a well worn sofa that had tons of wrappers on it and a TV on one side, with a desk piled high with strange books in foreign languages and a chair on the other. Arthur got a glimpse of his kitchen and saw that it was covered in half-baked meals and leftovers from who knows when. Merlin smiled apologetically, "I guess this is what happens when you don't have parents to follow up behind you and tell you to clean up." He got a round of weak laughter from all around and then, "Merlin? Who are these people?"

It was beautiful the way Merlin's whole demeanor changed when he heard that voice. His shoulders relaxed, he stood taller, his eyes grew brighter, and a smile graced his lips. He padded over to Freya's basin as they had taken to calling it. With a quick golden flash of his eyes, the water was frozen in place and it just looked like a bowl-shaped clear screen with a person looking out. He picked it up and faced it towards the group. He introduced them and then introduced her as Freya.

Gwen and Morgana grinned at each other, remembering that this was Merlin's girlfriend. "So Freya, what's it like being Merlin's boyfriend?" Morgana asked, coming closer to the basin. Freya's eyes lit up and her face grew brighter at the mere mention of Merlin's name. To the other occupants of the room, it was so very clear that they were mad for each other. Freya smiled and glanced at Merlin as she answered, "It is the most amazing thing ever! When all I had ever known was people hating me and fearing me, Merlin came and showed me once again that the world can love. He is love and he is magical. I love spending our nights talking together. I love that on the weekends he puts me on the seat next to him and we watch movies together. I love him; with all my heart I love him. I love that he never misses a single night of talking. I love that he always knows what to say. I love the days that he comes and visits me and we spend every moment of it on the shores of a lake, laughing and kissing and talking."

Merlin and Freya looked at each other with all the love and compassion and understanding that come from being immortal together. Everyone else in the room felt awed by the aura their love sent out. It truly was beautiful. Gwen sniffled, "I think I'm going to cry. That was so romantic." Morgana spoke around the lump in her throat, "Merlin, you need to teach our boyfriends how to be really romantic." For the first time all day, Merlin smiled at Morgana, "They don't need to learn how. Just being in love is romantic enough."

This time Gwen actually did let a tear or two escape and she and Morgana threw their arms around Merlin and hugged him. Freya, Elyan, Percival, Gwaine, and Mordred laughed while Leon and Arthur tried not to look jealous. The tips of Merlin's ears turned pink and he was about to say something when there was a mighty knock on the door. Freya and Merlin shared a look that no one else in the room could decipher before Merlin stalked over to answer the door.

A young, spirited woman all but ran into the room. "Please don't tell him I'm here!" she breathed out quickly before running to hide in the kitchen. Another mighty bang on the door announced another guest. Merlin opened the door again to have a very large, overweight man storm in, "Where is she! I know she's here! I'll find her! Where is she?!" "Mr. Brown," Merlin spoke up, "Mithian isn't here. If the sound of footsteps running down the stairs were anything to go by, I'd say she was downstairs." Mr. Brown stepped up into Merlin's personal space and bent down to glare at him, "Are you disrespecting my intelligence, boy?" Merlin, to give him credit, didn't back down or move an inch, "No sir. If I meant to disrespect you I would say that perhaps you should spend your spare time selling yourself out as a battering ram. Or perhaps I would say stop being such a useless drunk and Mithian would stop running away." Merlin tilted his head and gave him a tight lipped smile.

If Arthur didn't know him, he would have been terrified of that smile. But when Arthur thought about it, he didn't know Merlin. For Pete's sake, they had just met that day! Everyone else seemed to feel the same way as no one looked fearful, except for Mr. Brown. He looked like he just peed his pants. His face lost all of its color and he curled in on himself. He then walked out the door throwing a 'sorry' behind him as he left.

Merlin sighed, "Mithian, you can come out now!" She grinned and hugged him, "You are my hero, do you know that? I don't know how you stand up to him when he's that drunk, but it's amazing. I mean, he is scared as sh- of you!" She grinned again. Merlin let loose a fond sigh and ruffled her hair, "Let me guess, you need somewhere to stay tonight." Mithian gave him her best puppy dog eyes. He laughed, "You don't need puppy dog eyes with me. You can stay, like always. I think your go bag is in the bathroom still." She gave him another hug and started to run towards the bathroom.

She had flown past Percival, but then she stopped and backed up several steps. She raked her gaze up and down his body and then nodded her approval, "You're hot." Then she ran the rest of the way to the bathroom. Merlin laughed again at the shell shocked looks on his old friends' faces. He went to his desk and located a piece of paper before scribbling down Mithian's number. Merlin walked over to Percival and said, "Here Perce, figured I'd help you along the way." Morgana clapped giddily, "Ooh! You two would be so cute together!" The group laughed again at Morgana's antics before Elyan noticed the time and recommended that they should head to the front of the building.

They said their goodbyes to Freya, Mithian, and Merlin, and then they walked out the door. They would see him again tomorrow. As Arthur and company walked back down the stairs, Gwaine mused, "Is it just me or does that kid have a multiple personality disorder?" Percival looked at startled, he had been too busy staring at the phone number in his hand. Gwaine snorted at him before continuing, "I mean, seriously, in the one day that we've known him, I've seen at least five different sides to him." Leon looked like he was doing some math in his head while Morgana and Gwen nodded thoughtfully.

Arthur sighed, "Alright Gwaine, out with it. Enlighten us of Merlin's five personalities." "At least five." Gwaine corrected before continuing smugly, "Well, there's the normal Merlin, like his is at school and stuff. Then there's the totally in love Merlin like you saw with Freya just now. Then there's the 'I hate Mordred and Morgana for some all important reason' personality. After that, there's the protector of all that's just Merlin that you saw just now with Mithian, and finally, the kick butt Merlin that was examplified by Mr. Brown and the thug in the alleyway. So what do you think?" Lance's forehead was crinkled, "Is examplified even a real word?" Gwaine sighed and glared at him, earning him a slightly confused look from Lance.

Gwen once looked thoughtful as she said, "It really is interesting that we've all met him just today. It seems as if we've known him forever. I mean, that's how I feel. And he seems so comfortable around us, well most of us." She amended quickly, sending Morgana an apologetic glance before continuing, "Think about it, though. He even called Percival Perce and we only started doing that years after we met him. Merlin started on his first day. It's… interesting." She had to search for the right word and still she felt as if she hadn't found it. The rest of the group hummed in agreement, but then the moment was over and they were in front of the building and one of Arthur's dad's many limos had pulled up.

At the last minute, something made Arthur glance up at the window of what he now knew to be Merlin's room. As he watched, Merlin moved to stand in the window, watching the car, but not seeing Arthur, who was slightly behind a plant. He watched as Merlin watched them, an unimaginably old, unimaginably sad, look flitting across his face before he whipped around and walked into another room. That was strange, thought Arthur, I guess it's just another one of Merlin's supposedly many personalities. At that thought, Arthur snorted and shoved some people aside to sit next to Gwen on the way home.

Merlin had watched briefly through the window at his friends as they got into the limo, only stopping when a deep seated sadness had enveloped him. He turned away and walked back towards the main room, where Mithian was eating some left over cake from who knows when and talking avidly with Freya. The three spent about a half of an hour with Merlin and Freya berating Mithian for not calling the authorities sooner and teasing Mithian about liking Percival while Mithian protested until she was red in the face.

Eventually, Mithian went to sleep and left Freya and Merlin to their talking. He set the basin up on his desk and moved aside some ancient books to work on his essay. He was a little miffed about the whole essay deal, but who was he to complain when it was about history. He had lived through most of the stuff he was writing about and the rest he had heard from friends who had been there.

Freya watched him for a while, throwing in details here and there and occasionally throwing in bits about how her day was. Eventually, she spoke of what was really on their minds, "So they really were Arthur and his knights. And his queen, his greatest enemy, and his bane. What an interesting combination they have." Merlin sighed and put his pen down, "I don't know what to do Freya. Can I really fix what went wrong last time? When Morgana finds out she had magic- and that's if she even had magic, I'm really not sure- she will think she is even more insane then she thought she was back in Camelot."

Freya snickered quietly and Merlin frowned at her, "What?" She school her smile into a more serious expression before it cracked again and she started to giggle, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Merlin, it's just that I can't get over it that your school is called Camelot High. It's just so ironic." The warlock let out a short puff of laughter before Freya turned serious again, "Seriously though, I think that you should treat them as entirely new people. Like you said, they might not even have magic. I didn't see any in either of them, though that doesn't mean that they won't develop it. Trust them and maybe it won't turn out the way it did last time."

Merlin smiled at her and whispered, "What would I do without you, Freya?" She giggled and turned pink, "You would probably crash and burn." He laughed, barely remembering in time that Mithian was in the other room and would probably be awoken by raucous laughter. "That's very true." He paused for a moment, "Did you really mean everything you said to Gwen?" She nodded hesitantly, "I did. Did you?" He nodded as well, "Yes." Suddenly they smiled at each other. They spent about another hour where Merlin finished his essay and Freya told several funny stories about stupid people at the lake.

Eventually, Merlin told Freya that he was going to bed, and they both went their separate ways. Merlin was asleep the second his head hit the pillow.

The nightmare was worse than any he had had in a long, long time. Really, it had been decades since his nightmares were this bad. Nonetheless, he lived them out, watching them from afar like a ghost.

He saw Will die. He heard himself cry his grief for his lost friend. Will was one of the few friends that Merlin had had that truly knew him. Merlin remembered how it had felt as if he was the one who had been shot by the arrow. He remembered the pain at Will's words that he was afraid to die.

Then he saw Freya die. Even though he saw her every day, it still hurt like nothing else to know that she was dead. He saw Arthur land the killing blow on Freya's glossy black fur. He had known it was fatal when she flew away, back into the catacombs he had hid her in. He saw himself set fire to her body after she died.

Next was his father, Balinor. Balinor had died to protect the son he only knew for a few days. Merlin had felt Kilgharrah scream in pain. Most of all, Merlin remembered Arthur putting his hand on his shoulder and saying, 'No man is worth your tears.' If only he'd known.

He saw so many more: Lancelot, Gwaine, Mordred, Arthur, Elyan, Alator, and Finna. They all died because of him. Some of them he hadn't seen die, but he had heard the descriptions of them. He saw all of the ones who died later in life: Gwen, Percival, Kilgharrah, Gaius, Hunith, and so many more. He saw all of the people that he killed: Nimueh, Morgana, Uther, and Agravaine. 

In his nightmares, he saw the training he had undergone to learn how to use weapons. First it had just been training with the knights and with Gaius. Later in life, it had been mind games and other people skilled in different weapons. He had perfected his skill with the bow and arrow, the war hammer, the sword, the dagger, the axe, the staff, the nun chucks, even his bare hands. 

It horrified him that before Arthur had died; he would never had done that. He abhorred hurting someone at all, especially using traditional weapons. But after a while, he just didn't care anymore. He needed to know how to protect himself and those he loved, and that was the way to do it. He spent the night dreaming of all those he loved and all those he killed, watching their deaths play before his eyes, over and over and over again.

In the morning when Merlin awoke, Mithian told him that he had screamed a couple of times and had been tossing and turning all night. She also informed him that he looked awful what with the bags under his eyes and his pale skin and ruffled hair. He just glared half-heartedly at her and turned away. He made them breakfast and walked her to her school before heading the opposite direction to Camelot High.

When he finally reached the doors, he paused, terrified. The nightmares from last night had only served to remind him how awfully he had failed before. Would he fail this time? Could he trust Morgana and Mordred? What evils would they have to face this time? Why was it now that Arthur came back?

All of those important questions crowded his mind, searching and seeking for answers that weren't there. For a moment, his resolve strengthened and, before he could lose his nerve, he pulled open the doors to Camelot High and entered. Today was a new day and destiny had been written anew.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hi. Please review, let me know what you think. By the way, I have no clue how long this thing is going to be, it could be really long, or it could end next chapter (and wouldn't that be exciting!). I know that I have really not been having a lot of action, but I will try to incorporate some into this chapter. I do not own Merlin which is all out depressing, but if I did own Merlin, I would definitely marry Gwaine. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

As Merlin sat in history class watching Gwaine and Percival pass notes behind Mr. Agravaine de Bois' back, Merlin was seriously regretting his decision to start school back up again. He really didn't need to relearn all of history. And science? Please, he had actually helped with some of the discoveries. Today was only the second week of school and Merlin was starting to think that if it continued this way, he would prefer mucking the stables over this. But it was worth it. It was worth it to see his friends again even if they didn't know who he was. He was slowly remaking his friendships (it helped that he knew most everything about them).

He had apologized for being so rude to Morgana and Mordred that first day. They had immediately said it was okay and tried to get on his good side, which hurt more than anything. Others had asked him why he had been so mean, but he just shrugged and turned back to his work. And he was working all the time. It was ridiculous! Even Arthur hadn't given him this much to complain about. Mind you, he was normally done with homework within ten minutes where it took everyone an hour, but still!

At Camelot High, he had started to tutor other kids. It had always made him happy to help people in any way that he could. And besides, he had one hundreds in every class. Well, every class except home ic, where he somehow managed to have a low B. Arthur always made fun of him for that, and one day, he even went so far as to say that he would be an awful servant. Merlin's head had whipped up and Arthur had just looked confused as if he had no idea why he said that.

Merlin knew then that their memories could be restored. He wasn't exactly sure if that would be a good thing, but that would come later. Now he just had to find out how to trigger the memories. He had figured out that the whole group had to be there for it to happen. He also figured out that it had to be a parallel from their past life (for example, he had been walking down the stairs with his laundry and had fallen the last few steps and for some reason, they had all been standing there. In Camelot, Merlin had done that a lot.)

Merlin was startled from his musings when Agravaine came and hit his desk with his teacher stick and said sharply, "Merlin!" The warlock's head whipped up and he stuttered, "Y-yes, sir?" He had to physically force himself not to say 'sire'. The nightmares had been getting worse and it was really disconcerting to see yourself kill someone and then see that selfsame person the very next day hitting your desk. Not that many people had that experience.

Agravaine sighed as if that was the answer he expected and he smiled his sickly sweet smile. Merlin was trying really hard to forget past prejudices, but it was difficult. Agravaine was talking, "Merlin, is it too difficult for you to pay attention?" Merlin frowned at him, "I don't need to pay attention, though." Agravaine raised an eyebrow and looked to the class, "Oh really?" Merlin sighed. Agravaine was making it especially difficult to not hate him. Morgause was actually quite a nice lady, but this one. "No, sir, I don't." Merlin answered.

Agravaine turned his smile back onto Merlin, but this time there was a glint of evil intent in it, "Fine. Who was the battle of Trafalgar between?"

"It was between the French and the British."

"Good. Now who was the first lord of the British at that time, and what happened to him?"

"It was First Lord Nelson and he died in battle, sir."

"Alright. Who won the battle?"

Merlin sighed, he really didn't want to go through this, he had been there at the time, fighting for the British and it wasn't the best of wars, "The British won."

Agravaine looked like he was about ready to leap over desks and strangle Merlin, but he quickly composed himself and said, "Well then, why don't you write me an essay all about the battle of Trafalgar? I expect it to be typed and turned at the beginning of class on Monday. Understand?" Merlin nodded distractedly. He really wasn't sure what it was about teachers at this school. They all seemed determined to make Merlin write essays due the next school day about vague topics and with no other pointers as to what to do. It was kind of frustrating. While Mr. de Bois continued talking, Merlin started writing his essay. He would type it up when he got home.

Arthur sat down to lunch in between Gwen and Leon. Everyone was here except for Merlin, Gwaine, and Percival, who were in the lunch lines even then. They sat down and Merlin ruffled Mordred admittedly luscious hair as he passed. Arthur swore that one day Mordred would snap and tackle Merlin when he did that.

"You'll never guess what just happened in history with Mr. de Bois today." Gwaine started right away. Elyan sighed, "What just happened in history with Mr. de Bois today?" Gwaine grinned a grin that could only be described as maniacal and said, "I swear that he was about to leap over desks and chairs and shove children out of the way to kill Merlin today. I have never seen him lose his temper before and it was hilarious." Percival grinned and everyone looked at Merlin who was dutifully writing something.

"Merlin. What did you do and what are you doing?" Arthur demanded to know. Merlin looked up, then looked back down at what he was writing, "Oh, this is the essay that Mr. de Bois decided he wanted me to write. Not my fault that I know more than he does about the subject." Merlin's voice got quieter as he started to mumble about how this really isn't necessary to learn about and they should learn more about peace instead of bloody wars where no one really won because they all died and some such.

They had all heard variations of this speech multiple times in the two weeks that they'd known him. However good he was at kicking butt, he hated violence and would avoid it at all costs. Arthur was surprised that he knew Merlin that well. They all did. Like Gwen had said in the stairwell of Merlin's apartment building, it seemed as if they'd known him forever. There were people in the town that they lived in who would do anything to become a part of the elite group known as Arthur's friends. Some had been trying for years. So it surprised (and really angered some) everybody when they accepted him so readily.

Arthur broke Merlin's peace rant by saying, "So, my good idiot-," as he had taken to calling Merlin, "-we're planning on getting together at my place tonight to watch a movie marathon. We'll have popcorn and the girls and Gwaine will gossip-," he studiously ignored Gwaine's protests while Merlin grinned, "-and we'll probably pull an all-nighter. We were planning on heading right over to my place and just diving in. What do you think?"

Merlin said yes before amending that by saying, "Well, I'll come later in the night. I can't just not talk to Freya. So, I'll talk to her for a while and then I'll come over. Is that okay?" He asked it almost timidly. Gwen was positively beaming at Merlin so Arthur figured that he better agree since Gwen did. Merlin sighed with relief and he went back to writing his essay.

Gwen gushed at him, "Oh Merlin! You and Freya are so romantic! I mean, when was the last time you went a day without talking to her?" Merlin answered distractedly, "Since I set up our communications system, never." He had explained the basin off as some piece of new technology his late uncle had showed him how to make. It wasn't that far off since Gaius had been the one to show him how to contact Freya and Gaius had been like an uncle to Merlin. Gwen, oblivious, just beamed at him again, Morgana doing so as well.

Merlin set off towards home after waving at Arthur and crew as they got into the car and drove to Arthur and Morgana's place. When Merlin was done talking with Freya, he would just walk over, or maybe he would practice his teleportation and land nearby. Merlin had a bad habit of doing that when he was running late. Merlin shook his head and went back to his former train of thought. He knew where all the knights' houses were because he had been to all of them, multiple times.

It had hurt to see Gaius and know that the old man had no clue who he was other than what Gwen and Elyan had told him. It hurt to see other people as his wards and not Merlin. He had been terrified when he first met Uther, although, according to the others, he had done well with not showing it. Mordred's parents were still alive and really quite nice. Gwaine still lived with his pretty rich mom and dad. Percival still had his little brother and parents. It was good to find out that so many of them didn't lose their parents this time round. He wondered if it would make a difference.

Merlin said hi to the people who passed him on his way up to his apartment, occasionally stopping to have a short conversation with them. Everyone in the building knew Merlin. That's just the kind of person he was. He reached his door and was about to open it when he had the strangest feeling that something was wrong. He frowned and looked the door over, his face paling when he realized that the slip of paper had fallen to the ground.

He kept a small piece of paper in between his door and doorframe that only he really knew about so if someone had come into his apartment, he would know right away. He had been so distracted that he almost forgot to check.

Calling up his magic from where it rested, he pulled down the handle of the door and pushed it open a crack. Then he whipped the door the rest of the way open, closing it quickly behind him lest any passersby be caught in the crossfire. The lights turned on with a flash of gold in his eyes and he gasped at what he saw. It looked as if something had tried to literally rip apart his entire room. Although none of the magical artifacts or books that he had collected over the years were taken (they were hidden in a section of the wall that could be removed only by the strongest of magic and it was nearly impossible to detect), the rest of his books had been torn to shreds and then chewed on.

His sofa was cleanly ripped in half and the rest had dirty tears all across it. The TV had been smashed onto the ground and shattered. His desk was tipped over with his laptop in several pieces in different corners of the room. And then he saw what else they did. Something that made his blood run cold and his eyes flare a deep golden. Freya's basin was broken. Not only broken, but shattered into so many pieces that Merlin wasn't sure that he would even be able to put it back together again. He would make a new one of course, but that would take hours to do and it meant that this weekend he would have to go shopping to replenish some of his magical herbs and that meant cross country teleportation, which was not fun.

Merlin shook his head idly before moving silently and slowly into the kitchen. For all that he had learned in the last twenty five thousand years, and for all the training he had undergone, he still fell over. A lot. The kitchen was just as ransacked as the living room. Even the refrigerator had been upended. That was just plain rude. He stealthily left the room and stuck his head into the bathroom, watching as many doors as he could in the meantime.

He then entered the guest bedroom, which, other than being in slight disarray, wasn't nearly as damaged as the other rooms. Last, he entered his bedroom. He wasn't sure he recognized it anymore. It looked like a whirlwind had gone through, then it had been set on fire, then it rained, then someone ransacked it and set another whirlwind through it for good measure. This was not good. Merlin put up a silencing spell on the apartment so no one would here the strange noises of room being put back together again.

Moments after putting the spell in place, whatever it was that did this made itself known. It was a manticore. Great. Merlin loved manticores. And if there was a manticore, it was a safe bet that Nimueh was somehow involved. After being reborn a couple years back, Nimueh Blessed had developed some sort of attachment to that particular kind of creature. And she developed a deep seated hatred for Merlin. Well, technically for Emrys, but whatever.

The beast screeched at him, making Merlin very glad that he had put that silencing spell in place, although that's probably how the creature knew when to attack. Merlin frowned at it and summoned a ball of fire. He tossed it lazily and thought about the creature before him. He knew that the only way to destroy one of these things was to destroy the box while it was in the physical world. He also knew that the box had to be within the same room as the manticore. That meant that the box was somewhere in his bedroom.

The manticore shrieked at him again, warning him just in time to swat the creature from the air as it plunged its poisonous tail at him. Merlin stumbled backwards, searching the room again and again for Nimueh's magic before starting to sweep the room for any foreign magic. There was nothing aside from the manticore that continued to attack, relentless in its onslaught. No matter how many times Merlin swiped it back or bashed it, it continued to get up and he was starting to get annoyed. He was Emrys. He was like a king, no, a god to the druids and he couldn't even find a stupid box.

Then he stepped on it. It broke. Merlin really was quite depressed that he found it that way. He was also quite depressed that he hadn't thought to use his eyes to look for it. Whoever did this to him knew him better than anyone should.

There was only one tiny problem left. The bloody manticore still wasn't dead. Merlin reached blindly behind him and pulled out something, a sword. He swept it outward and caught the manticore on its neck. Luckily, it dissolved so he didn't have to worry about cleaning it up. He let out a shaky breath until he saw the sword in his hand and his breath hitched again. He dropped the sword and swore. That most definitely was not his sword. That was Clarent, the sword used to kill Arthur in the final battle at Camlaan. Now Merlin was truly worried. Who could possibly know enough about him to do this?

Who would know to destroy Freya's basin, or that he would only use his magic to search? Who would know that he would assume the creature came from Nimueh? And especially, who would know about Clarent? The only people he had told about any of these things were dead. Was it some new foe to face?

Merlin suddenly remembered Freya again and he ran back into the room, swearing as he went. His eyes continued to flare a golden hue and his room corrected itself as he found another crystal bowl. He started to carve the runes on the side with an iron poker, pausing only when he remembered that he was supposed to be going over to Arthur's tonight. Dang. He called his phone over to him where he sat and he speed dialed Arthur's number.

Arthur answered after a few rings, "Hello? Merlin?"

"Yeah, it's me. Look, I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to make it tonight. Something came up, and it's going to take a couple of hours."

"Oh." Arthur sounded slightly off put which lightened Merlin's heart before he continued, "That's alright. You know, though, that if you wanted to come after those couple of hours is up, you could still come over. Like I said, it's going to be an all-nighter thing and it really doesn't matter when you pop in."

Merlin grinned even though he knew Arthur couldn't see him, "Alright, I'll keep that in mind. I'll probably see you later tonight then."

Merlin could practically see Arthur scowl as he said, "Merlin! You make it sound as if we're going on a date or something."

"We're not?"

Arthur growled at him and cut the connection. Merlin grinned again and used his magic to move the phone back over to its normal position next to the key bowl.

After an hour and a half of painstaking care to remake the basin, he was finally finished. He huffed out a breath and lifted up that water that had stained the carpet dark gray and he moved it to the basin.

Immediately, Freya's concerned face filled the bowl, "Merlin! I've been so worried! What happened?" Merlin rubbed his eyes tiredly and told her what had happened earlier that evening. She gasped and covered her mouth saying, "I'll do my best to find out about this Merlin. If it's a shade of someone dead, I'll find out if anyone's missing. Also, I'll ask the plants and the animals to keep a look out." Merlin smiled at her again and he hand slowly moved from her mouth to rest in her lap.

"Again, what would I do without you Freya?" She laughed and said, "I love you so much." Then she launched into a story of her day, Merlin quickly filling her in with his day before he said his goodbye and set up some extra strong wards. He teleported to a relatively quiet stretch of park that was near Arthur's house. He walked to door and was soon admitted by the butler, George. Merlin thanked him and headed up the stairs to Arthur's room, the source of many shouts and a lot of laughter.

Merlin stopped just inside the door and watched his friends sadly. He wondered if they would get it right this time. He also wondered if he would finally be able to grow old and die. For a second, his sadness and the enormity of his task weighed down on him and he felt that he was about to crumble. But he wouldn't. He had suffered far too much to be a victim ever again.

Arthur would admit that despite being at his house for several hours now, they had yet to get through a single movie. They kept stopping it to tell stories that would lead to more stories and more stories and so on. It was a blast all the same, but not quite according to plan. Then Merlin had called and he'd had to shout at the others to be quiet. He told them what Merlin told them and they started to speculate about what he could possibly be doing. It seemed as if Merlin could come to other people's houses whenever he felt like it. He had never said no before.

The speculation stopped when Lance had said, "Why don't you lot just ask him when he gets here? You're good enough at pestering to get him to tell you whatever you want." They had nodded seriously and went back to the movie for a whole ten minutes before they got distracted again.

When another lull in the conversation finally came, a voice came out of nowhere and startled them all, "I really don't know if it counts as watching a movie when you talk the entire time and are laughing so loud that you can't hear the door bell ring." Lance grinned at him, "Merlin! We've been wondering where you were." Gwaine, who was already drunk on soda and copious amounts of ice cream crawled across the floor to Merlin and grabbed his ankle, causing him to flinch. Gwaine didn't notice, but instead, he started his interrogation, "Merlin! My friend! What on earth were you doing that you missed all this?"

Merlin laughed and answered, "I was fighting a manticore. And could you please unlatch yourself from my ankle? I wasn't planning on telling you since it really wasn't relevant before, but I'm a tad bit haphephobic." Gwaine pouted but did as he told, "Since I know you and I know that you're stubborn about certain things, I know that I won't get any more out of you about what you were doing, but it hurts that you won't tell us." Merlin laughed again and said, "I did tell you the truth. You just don't believe me."

Lance was mouthing a word to Percival, who shrugged in response. Arthur watched as Lance looked up and mouthed the word again, this time to himself. Arthur sighed and asked, "Earth to geek boy Lance, what's going on in that head of yours?" Lance seemed to shake himself out of the thought process and said, "Huh? Oh, I was trying to figure out what haphephobia was the fear of, but I don't know." Merlin sighed as he placed himself between Gwen and Morgana, with Mordred in front of him on the ground, "You lot are all heathens, do you know that? Haphephobia is the fear of being touched. Obviously I don't have it that bad, but when someone does something like grab my ankle, or like give me a brotherly punch, or a hug, or something like that, it scares me and my heart starts to pump faster and all that dramatic stuff."

Gwaine looked properly abashed and he said, "Oh, sorry mate," but Merlin just waved it off saying that he hadn't known.

Merlin really hadn't wanted to tell them about the haphephobia because that would eventually lead to questions, if not questions that very moment, but Gwaine had made it necessary by grabbing his ankle. The feeling of a strong hand wrapped around his ankle had made him flinch and start to hyperventilate as he remembered a particularly bad day in Bulgaria that involved an assassin and a lake. But that was neither here nor there and he had movies to watch.

Well, correction, he had a movie to sometimes watch, but mostly listen as his friends told stories and threw things at each other. He stayed quiet most of the time and was aware of Arthur's eyes boring holes into his back, but he didn't care.

For the moment, he didn't have to worry about the person who knew so much about him. He didn't have to worry about his destiny and how he was going to reveal his magic. All that mattered at that particular point in time was that he was surrounded by friends and he was having the time of his life.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hi! Sorry it took so long to review. I had a ton of tests and homework and stuff. Please review and all that jazz! I'd be interested to hear who you think the new (or perhaps old) villain/ess is. I'll keep trying to put more action and more BAMF!Merlin in there, but I don't know if I will. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.
> 
> I still do not own Merlin and (so, so sadly) I probably never will. On a different note, hope you enjoy the story!

Merlin woke up to the sound of someone singing gently to herself. He frowned as his eyes stayed stubbornly closed. Was there any particular reason that someone in his apartment was singing at… three in the morning? What kind of ridiculous time was that? Then it hit him and realized he had read the clock wrong. It wasn't three in the morning… it was three in the afternoon. He had slept until three in the afternoon! He hadn't done that in at least a thousand years. So, wait, who was singing?

Then Merlin bolted upright at he recognized the voice. His eyes flared open and flashed a deep golden. Morgana. She was singing. What was she doing here? She was going to kill Arthur!

That's when Merlin really took a moment to look at his surroundings. He deflated and took in a deep breath as he remembered that he was in Arthur's mansion. He remembered that Morgana isn't evil. Then he remembered that he had some psycho creep that broke into his apartment last night and he inflated a bit more. Merlin cautiously peaked around the room, assuring himself that he hadn't been seen acting like a pansy.

Of course, that's what he thought. Until he turned around and ended up staring right at Lance who was mildly staring at him. Merlin sighed and flopped back onto the mat that he had called his bed last night. No surprise that it was Lance to see him. Lance always did have a knack for being there at the right time. Or the wrong time depending on how you looked at it.

"How much of that did you see?" Merlin spoke wearily. At least he had been facing the other direction when his eyes had turned gold.

He could sense Lance smile as he answered, "I saw you wake up but continue to stay where you were, then you looked at the clock. Then you practically gave yourself whiplash looking at the clock again-," he chuckled to himself, "-and then I saw you tense and shoot into an upright position. You looked around you, seemed to relax, and then tensed again when you saw me. If I may say so myself, I'm a bit confused." The man that Merlin had heard so many compare to a Spanish god turned his black capped head to the side as if contemplating Merlin and trying to gauge whether or not he would answer.

The warlock was about to give some cockamamie excuse when Morgana and Gwen swaggered into the room. Lance gave Gwen a soft smile and Merlin marveled to see that there was no love in it. He had assumed that Lance would have the same feelings. Although, he thought silently, Leon and Morgana had never shown any indication of love towards each other.

Gwen smiled back at Lance and then at Merlin. The two women came and sat cross-legged near the two men. Morgana leaned in conspiratorially, "What say you we give them a wakeup call?" Merlin grinned in spite of himself. He was frankly quite amazed at how easily he had readjusted to a good Morgana and Mordred. People always did say that he saw the light in every situation. Speaking of…

Merlin leaned in as well, "I have just the thing in mind." With that, he got up and walked over to the curtains. Gwen giggled when she realized what Merlin was about to do.

"Up and at 'em!" Merlin all but shouted as he swung the heavy curtains open. A chorus of groans accompanied the statement with the girls and Lance giggling in the back.

Arthur flipped onto his side to avoid the light, "It's too early, Merlin!"

Merlin grinned widely and pulled the blankets from the king's grasp, "Oh, it's never too early, Sire." Here he gave a mock bow, "And besides, it's almost three thirty. I would say that's early enough."

In the background Merlin could here Morgana sitting on Leon, who hadn't reacted in the slightest to the bright light filtering through the room. Lance and Gwen laughed as Gwaine bolted upright, swinging at something that wasn't there. Percival had gotten up reluctantly and shaded his eyes against the sun. Mordred and Elyan were fighting for a blanket that they had somehow ended up sharing.

It was bliss.

Arthur was walking down the hallways to his father's limo waiting out in front of the school. He, Gwaine, Lance, and Percival were going over to his house and working on football maneuvers for the upcoming tryouts.

Gwaine pushed his shoulder into Percival's playfully, causing the mountain of a man to not even move an inch. Gwaine seemed to take that as some sort of challenge and he continuously rammed himself into Percival as they walked down the corridor, Lance laughing and Arthur smirking.

Suddenly a clang of someone being pushed into a locker reverberated from the little hall just ahead of them. By this time of day, most students and teachers were gone. It was the perfect moment to bully someone, if you were into bullying someone of course. Gwaine was already rounding the corner before the others had even looked at each other.

They were all shocked at the sight that met them. There was Tristan de Bois, who was Agravaine's kid, Edwin Muirden, who everyone knew was more than a little bit psychopathic, and Gilli Copper, who was a younger kid who hung out with the 'cool' kids. They were the school's local bullies and they were crowding a figure that the former knights were shocked to realize was Merlin. He was huddled into a ball on the ground, having been the source of the sound of someone being pushed into a locker.

"Hey!" Arthur shouted, drawing the attention of Gilli who grabbed onto Tristan's sleeve and yanked it frantically. Tristan looked like he was going to slap Gilli for interfering, but then he saw Arthur, Lance, Gwaine, and Percival watching him.

He sneered, "Aw, I'm sorry. Did I hurt your precious little boy toy?" Merlin sent him a look that would have withered a field of grass at which Tristan stepped forward menacingly and Merlin cringed.

That more than anything infuriated Arthur, "Step away from him and we can talk this out." He began.

This time it was Edwin who sneered at them, "I didn't know you could talk. I assumed that you had your father's servants do it for you."

Behind all of them, Merlin laughed. Lance looked askance at him and Arthur just glared, "Sorry," Merlin laughed, "I'm so sorry. That was actually a good one though. And kind of true." Merlin mused, his thoughts going far away.

Gwaine openly guffawed at Merlin and even Tristan had turned around to stare at him openmouthed. By this time, Merlin had stood and he assumed a more defensive position, "What?"

"What did you just say?" Arthur moved threateningly toward Merlin, who, for his credit, didn't move at all. He just grinned and repeated what he said.

Arthur looked at Tristan, "You know what? Have a crack at him." Tristan laughed and, terrifyingly enough, Edwin licked his lips. That slightly worried Lance and Percival who turned their openmouthed expressions on Arthur. In his mind, he was really just getting tired of the whole ordeal and his chauffer was waiting outside for them.

He brushed past Tristan and Edwin – Gilli had scrambled to avoid his path – and reached grabbed one of Merlin's ridiculously large ears, pulling him toward the exit. He could feel Tristan and Edwin glaring daggers into his back, but he didn't care. Although he would never admit it, he was just glad that he had gotten Merlin out of there relatively intact. Edwin was notorious for viscously beating his victims.

As they continued to the front of the building, Gwaine laughed, "Dude," he said, addressing Merlin, "You have to get bullied more often. That was awesome."

"I'm glad that you enjoyed it." Merlin grumbled, but his small smile and the slightly pink tinge to the tops of his ears betrayed him.

"Speaking of which," Gwaine continued, "Why did you let them terrorize you? I mean, we all saw you take that full grown mugger down with, like a swipe of your hand, and yet some overweight morons have you cowering on the floor like a nine year old girl."

Merlin's ears turned an even darker shade of pink and his cheeks joined them, "I wasn't cowering like a nine year old girl."

Lance glanced at him sympathetically, "Yeah, you kind of were."

Merlin glared at him before saying, "Thanks. You're a real friend there." He sighed, "I let them beat me up because I don't like to hurt people for any reason. Even if they hurt me, they don't deserve to be hurt, no one does. It's mainly if my friends are being threatened or if someone is trying to take my stuff that I hurt them. I don't like it when someone takes my stuff."

Arthur laughed at this new side of Merlin. In the two weeks and one day that they had known him, he had never seen a sulky Merlin before and he found it hilarious. Then he stopped laughing and settled into deep thought. They had only known Merlin for two weeks and yet, he had been to their houses almost every day and all of their parents had already extended the invitation that he could come over to their houses whenever.

He looked over at this boy who had come into their world and turned all their lives upside down, with all of them only realizing then that upside down was really the right way. Gwaine had grabbed Merlin's head and was giving him a vigorous head rub, ignorant to Merlin's gangly, flailing arms and his vehement protests. Arthur smiled.

Even though he would never admit it to anyone in a thousand years, Merlin had already become his best friend.

Merlin had finally freed himself from Gwaine's grasp and had left to go over to Gwen's house to have a 'romance 101' night with Gwen, Leon, and Morgana present. (He claimed he had been forced, though, it really is impossible to say no to Gwen and Morgana trying to convince you to do something).

Several days later, on Thursday, Gwaine, Lance, and Percival finally convinced Merlin to let them stay the night over at his apartment. The foursome climbed up the stairs to his apartment, Gwaine grumbling the entire time about the 'blood lack of a bloody elevator'. As usual, people stopped and had short conversations with Merlin about their day and he introduced them to the knights.

Merlin really had to stop calling them 'the knights'. He knew that they weren't the same people they had been all those years ago, but it was so hard to not think of them that way.

They finally made it to Merlin's floor and they were walking down it when Merlin frowned. He could feel something off in the air. Again. He held his hand up and turned his head slightly to the side saying, "Wait here." This was to the knights who were looking past him curiously.

Merlin bent down and grabbed the white piece of paper that had fallen from his door. He frowned furiously at the paper, blaming it for the failure of his protection wards. Making sure the knights were still where he had left them, he cracked the door open and saw his living room in complete disarray. Again. He closed the door again and pressed his forehead against it, unsure of how to proceed.

Gwaine had no such quarrels. He barged past Merlin ignoring his strangled yelp as he said loudly, "Come on Merlin. Your room can't be that messy compared to mine. I mean, that would take talent. And really, what boy has a neat room other than geek boy Lance over there." Lance and Percival smiled apologetically at him as they also brushed past him into his home.

The three had gotten several feet in before their brain caught up with the images from their eyes and they stopped dumbstruck. Merlin saw them stare around them in horror, but that was nothing compared to the horror he felt. Since that Friday night, he had been attacked three more times, once by another manticore, then by an afanc, and then by a wyvern. He really did not want his friends to discover magic by being attacked by a mythical creature. That would not be ideal.

He wanted to usher them out, but before he could try, Gwaine let out a shriek that he would no doubt deny later. If there was a later.

"What is that?" Gwaine asked shrilly. Merlin sighed. It was another manticore. He was really starting to suspect that Nimueh was in on this, but no way she was this powerful to get past all his wards and summon the creature. Besides, she didn't know the things she needed to know to set these situations up.

Merlin sighed again, "It's a manticore Gwaine. It'd be a bit helpful if you could look around you for an intact box and without touching it, let me know where it is. Meanwhile, I'll hold it off." From his back pocket, Merlin pulled out his sword. It unfolded when he whipped it out, magically sealing itself into a sword form. He began to hack ineffectually at the creature.

His friends continued to stare in horror until Lance shook his head and started looking for the box. Percival was the next to shake himself from his stupor, followed closely by Gwaine. After several minutes of tense creeping around the room and moving things while trying to not attract the attention of the battling creatures, Percival finally found it.

The quiet man called out, "Merlin! It's over here!" Merlin spared a glance in his direction. The manticore took advantage of his distraction and shot its poisonous tail toward the warlock. At the last second, Merlin turned his head and he bent backward, almost in half. His hands met the ground and he kicked up, sending the monster into the wall closest to the box.

Merlin then used his momentum to flip himself over and turn in the same move, ending up on his feet and running toward the box. He smashed it right before the creature recovered its footing. Merlin then swung his sword and decapitated the manticore, pulverizing it to dust.

"What the heck?!" Gwaine all but shouted, making Merlin glad that he had put a permanent silencing spell on his apartment. Merlin subconsciously refolded his sword and put it back into his pocket.

Merlin coughed slightly and scratched his head, "Well…"

Lance shook his head, "No. Don't even think about it. I think that we deserve the truth for once. What just happened? What was that thing? And how did your sword thing work?"

Merlin coughed again and walked into the kitchen area, coming back with a little kit of some sort and a crystal bowl. He sat down where the shards of Freya's basin were scattered and motioned for them to sit around him. They looked at each other warily and he scowled at them.

"Alright, I'll tell you the truth, but if you, at any point of my monologue, tell me that I'm making this up, or pulling your leg, or am insane, I will hurt you. While we're talking, I'm going to remake this." Merlin pointed an iron rod at the remnants of his communication system. The knights nodded dutifully and Merlin sighed once again before launching into his story:

"Long, long ago there was a kingdom called Camelot. The king of Camelot was named Arthur Pendragon. He was married to Queen Gweneviere and his servant was named Merlin. He had several trusted knights named Gwaine, Leon, Percival, Lancelot, Elyan, and Mordred. Mind you, this is only the bare minimum of the truth, but the full story would take forever to tell. He had a half-sister named Morgana. Morgana was a witch with great powers and a dragon at her disposal. She had gone insane years ago and her only goals in life were: kill Arthur, attain the throne of Camelot, and kill Emrys.

"Due to some mistakes on both Merlin and Arthur's parts, Mordred betrayed his king and joined forces with Morgana. It was once foretold that if they were to become partners, Arthur would fall. Mordred killed Arthur. Morgana had already killed, albeit indirectly, Lance and Elyan. Then she killed Gwaine and captured Percival. Arthur killed Mordred and Merlin killed Morgana. It was also foretold that even though Arthur died, he would be reborn again when Albion, also known as the British Isles, needed him the most.

"That was twenty five thousand years ago. Merlin, also known as Emrys, didn't die like his friends and he stayed alive those twenty five thousand years. This Merlin is me. I am somewhat immortal. I can be killed, but I will not age. I have waited for Arthur to be reborn and he finally has. Thankfully, his knights and his queen were reborn as well. Unfortunately, so were his enemies. That's why the first day I was so hateful towards Morgana and Mordred. They destroyed everything I loved and made me watch.

"However, they currently have not a speck of magic this time around. Hopefully that means that this time will be different. That this time Arthur will unite Albion as is his destiny. By the way, you can't tell anyone this. And I mean anyone. That includes Arthur himself. Anyways, I have magic as well, which was very bad back in Camelot where magic was illegal and punishable by death, but that's another story. Someone, I don't know who yet, has been tearing through my room, either looking for something or just doing it to annoy me. Each time this person, or persons I guess, destroys my house, they leave a monster behind for me to fight.

"I've fought all of these monsters before, but that doesn't mean I have fun with it. Whoever it is that's doing this to me knows more than they should. They know things that I've only ever told certain people and those people are dead. Well, they were dead, but now they're reborn. But they don't remember so it doesn't really matter. Anyways that was a manticore I just fought. They are not nice."

Merlin frowned at the end, thinking about how just un-nice manticores really were. Gwaine, Lance (why is it always Lance who sees these things), and Percival stared at him, flabbergasted.

"So you're saying that magic is real?" Percival pressed hesitantly. Merlin nodded distractedly as an answer, concentrating on imprinting the runes correctly onto the bowl.

"What are you doing?" Lance asked peering at the bowl as Merlin finally finished and spoke the words to activate it, his eyes flashing gold as the water flowed up from the ground and into the bowl again. The former knights stared with open mouths as Freya's face immediately filled the water, once again concern dominating her druid features.

"My love, did they attack again?" Freya asked, oblivious to the others in the room. As usual, Merlin's face lit up at seeing her and a smiled curled his lips.

"Yep. Another manticore. I'm convinced that Nimueh must somehow be involved. Oh, and Gwaine, Lance, and Percival are here. They saw the manticore and demanded answers so I gave them." Merlin answered quickly.

Freya frowned at him, "You just flat out told them about the magic and their history?" Merlin nodded obligingly and she continued, "And they accepted it? Well, that helps. It probably has something to do with the fact that there's no 'death to all those who are magical' law hanging over your heads this time around." Merlin snorted.

Lance shook his head, "Wait, she knows about the magic too? It also sounds like she knows the whole story of 'our history' as she says. Who is she really?"

Merlin and Freya looked at each other and communicated with their eyes before Merlin spoke again, "May I introduce you to the Lady of the Lake. I met her a couple of years after I came to Camelot and we were in love immediately. She… she died and somehow my magic bound her to the lake and made her the guardian of Avalon. She cannot leave the water, but we found this way to communicate not at the lake. She has been my girlfriend for the last twenty five thousand years. We developed this system about five years after Arthur died and have talked to each other every night since then." They smiled at each other again.

"Alright," Gwaine started slowly, "I think that we are going to, and yes I know, the horror, pull an all-nighter on a school night and you should explain a bit more in detail."

And so Merlin, with a little bit of help from Freya, told his story and told them about the predicament he was currently facing. He showed them his magic and he cleaned up his house. They took the situation very well and they promised him their help.

It almost felt like they were back in Camelot plotting again and it was the most bittersweet moment of his life.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hello again. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Hopefully you like it. Please (pretty, pretty please with a strawberry on top) review! Enjoy the story!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
> 
> PS: To clear up some confusion that might ensue momentarily, in this AU, there was no story of Arthur and Merlin and Camelot. No one has even heard of them. No one knows that there was even such a thing as Camelot or magic.

"So…" Gwaine drawled as he, Lance, and Percival stepped out of Merlin's apartment building and into the light drizzle. The three had already called home and begged their parents to let them skip school that day, pretty easily getting their parents to cave.

Lance looked at Gwaine skeptically, "Yes?" Percival snorted at the more than slightly condescending tone in Lance's voice.

Gwaine threw him a droll glare before continuing, "So, was what we just spent all night doing considered 'furthering a delusion'?"

Percival looked at him, almost shocked, but Lance responded, "I honestly don't know. I mean, magic can't be real. We would have known about it by now if it was. And a manticore, please, who's even heard of a manticore? I know he lied about one thing at least; he can't be twenty five thousand years old. Humans weren't evolved enough to have kingdoms at that point. So there was no way that there was a Camelot at that point in time. The thing I just can't get out of my head is how he fixed his room, and Freya appearing in the water. If that wasn't magic, then I don't know what is."

Percival murmured almost hesitantly, "Maybe it was some sort of magic trick? A trick of the light or something."

Gwaine shook his shaggy mane, "No mate that was way too real to be a simple trick or the light. I think that there are drugs pumping through the vent into his room." Lance scoffed, but Gwaine went on nonetheless, "Think about it this way, has he ever talked about magic somewhere other than the confines of his own room? Have you ever seen him bring Freya's 'magical bowl' somewhere other than his apartment? If there were drugs it would make sense that he would be confused, and since we inhaled the drugs, we were confused and hallucinated as well!"

Percival tilted his head thoughtfully, "What about Freya? She seemed to think that she was as old as Merlin thinks he is. She isn't in the room getting drugged."

Lance joined into the speculation, "There's always the off chance that she wasn't real. I mean, we could have hallucinated her as well."

Percival, always the devil's advocate, said, "Maybe, but he talks about her outside of his apartment. Gwaine had made the comment about him not talking about magic outside the confines of his own room, but he talks about Freya all the time." It was true. The kid went on about her like she made the world go round.

Gwaine gave a half-hearted glare in Percival's direction, who, under the scrutiny, only shrugged, "What if he actually knew someone named Freya, and his drug addled mind merges the Freya he knew and the Freya he imagines into the same person?" The others nodded and, as they walked to Lance's house, they continued to speculate on what was going on and how to help their friend.

Merlin growled in frustration. He put his crystal away, one that he had gleaned from the very walls of the crystal cave, and he put his head in his hands. He too had already called in sick at the school, wanting to give more thought to the plans they had made, and, admittedly to spy on the knights.

He should have known better than to think that anyone in this generation would possibly believe in magic! The warlock dug his palms into his eyes, trying to grind out his frustrations. Freya's voice floated from somewhere to the left of him, "My love, are you alright?" Merlin growled again as an answer.

"What is it?" Freya tried again.

Merlin lifted his head, "Can I come see you Freya, at the lake I mean? I just need to spend some time with you."

Freya gave him a huge smile and said, "Of course, my love! How soon can you be here? Oh, and don't think that you distracted me from my earlier question," Merlin gave her a sheepish grin and she continued, "Because you still owe me an explanation when you get here."

Merlin threw her a lopsided grin and said, "I will be there in just a couple of hours. I'm going by train, so it might take awhile. You know how slow trains can be. I'm just going to leave my messenger bag here." Merlin gave her a concerned glance and added, "Freya, what's wrong? You are tenser than one of Arthur's bow strings."

At this, Freya tensed even more, but Merlin doubted that anyone but himself would have been able to notice. She covered it up quickly with, "Nothing's wrong Merlin. I'm just anxious to see you."

Merlin frowned at her, his earlier grievances forgotten, "Freya." His voice was dangerous, and had anyone else been listening, they would have shrunk back in fear. "Freya," he tried again, "Tell me what's wrong. I can help you with it, but you have to tell me." Freya had had her fair share of troubles being the guardian of Avalon, and Merlin had helped her as she helped him.

Freya pursed her lips and said, "I'm sorry Merlin, I just don't know what to say. There is nothing wrong."

Merlin frowned at her. She had never not told him what was wrong before and that was saying something, being that their relationship was twenty five thousand years in the making. He would find out what was wrong when he met up with her in a few hours. He hastily said goodbye, giving her one more frown and a questioning, before heading out and locking his door behind him.

Gwaine, Lance, and Percival had convinced the others to skip school as well, feeling slightly bad for Ms. Gorlois as she would have literally no one in her homeroom today. They just all felt like it was a bit more necessary to discuss Merlin's drug dependency (the three had come to the conclusion that it was, in fact, drugs that were causing the strange behavior). They hadn't informed the others as to why they were calling the meeting of the round table at the Pencil Shaker Café. Most of their friends had been looking for an excuse to get out of school anyway, and had agreed immediately.

Once everyone had sat down in the café, Lance began. The threesome had already agreed on what they were going to say, "We think that Merlin pumps drugs through his vent." Not that subtle, but it drew their attention, namely the attention of the two ladies.

"What?!" Gwen and Morgana shrieked in sync.

Percival nodded stoically as Lance and Gwaine related the tale of last night. Arthur looked shocked as he realized the implications of what they were saying, and the rest just looked like they really weren't sure what was going on.

Gwen, after getting over her initial reaction, said, "I really don't feel comfortable talking about him without him being here. We should call him and invite him to the café. You know, confront him about it." The others nodded their consent, if somewhat dazedly.

Lance pulled out his phone and punched in Merlin's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Merlin, it's Lance."

"Um… yeah, I know. It says your name on the phone when you call me. I don't know anyone else with the name Lancelot."

"Oh, well, yeah. Anyways, I was wondering if you could come down to the Pencil Shaker? I figured that you skipped today as well. Um, all of us are down here. So, do you want to come?"

"Why do I feel like something's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong. I was just wondering if you wanted to come."

"Uh, I actually can't. I'm sorry. I was going to see Freya, at the lake. I'm already on the train now. If you want, though, I can get out my laptop and we can Skype?"

"That'd be great. Um, hold on for a sec and tell me when you're ready."

"… ready."

"Alright, I'm calling you now…"

"Got it. I'm hanging up now."

Then Merlin's face filled Lance's screen and he positioned the laptop so everyone could see Merlin and Merlin could see everyone. Merlin smiled uncertainly, "So, what's up?"

Arthur scowled at him and said, "We know about your drug addiction."

Merlin rose his eyebrows higher than even Gaius could manage and spluttered, "I'm sorry, say what now?"

Gwen burst into tears, crying, "Oh Merlin! Why didn't you just tell us that you're addicted to drugs? We could have helped you! I know that you have a hard time coping what with your parents dead, but you have friends and we care about you. You don't need to turn to drugs to be happy. We can make you happy." By the end of this little spiel, Morgana was also crying.

Merlin started to splutter again, completely flustered, "Alright then, wow. I really don't know what to say and I am concerned as to what Lance, Gwaine, and Percival told you. What exactly did you guys say?"

"We told them everything that happened, even how the drugs affected us and made us see things that weren't there. It really isn't nice to force us to have drugs against our will." Lance admonished him.

Merlin put his face in his hands and sighed a bone wary sigh that made the occupants of the round table glance at him, concerned, "Look, I'm not crazy. I don't have drugs pumping through my vent system. I am clean, my house is clean, and you guys are clean. I have no clue what to say to convince you. Obviously showing you the truth and being attacked by a manticore can't prove to you the truth, so I won't try."

Gwen started crying even harder, "I'm sorry, it's all just so tragic! You lose your parents and fall victim to drugs and then imagine a girlfriend and then force feed us drugs too so you don't have to feel alone."

Arthur put his hand on her shoulder as Leon hugged Morgana, the two men glaring at Merlin as if this was his fault. Merlin banged his head on the table in front of him. Throughout the past, people had wondered why he wasn't trusting and forthcoming. This is why. He continued through gritted teeth, "Guys, I. Do. Not. Do. Drugs. At. All. Please, why can't you believe me? And don't say that someone else is pumping drugs through my vents because, and you can even call the landlady and ask her, my vents are broken. They don't even pump air let alone drugs."

Morgana, ever the observant one, spoke up then through her tears, "How about this, you say that you're great at history right? You've got a one hundred in the class?" She waited for Merlin to nod hesitantly before she continued, "Then how can you think that you're twenty five thousand years old? People didn't have permanent buildings at that point."

"Ha!" Merlin all but shouted, "I can explain that one. So, about ten thousand years ago, the first civilizations popped up, right? Wrong. They had been around for about thirty thousand years before that. Unfortunately, about a thousand years after Arthur died, disaster struck. A group of about three hundred sorcerers gathered together to turn the entire world into an oasis where everything could flourish and people could become rich on the land. I warned them that it wouldn't work. Earth had created itself a certain way, and doesn't like to be meddled with. So, when they tried to meddle with it, it promptly destroyed all of the humans except the hunter and gatherer people who Earth felt wouldn't threaten it. And, of course I survived because I am a creature of the Earth. And then that's why no one knows the story of Camelot, all knowledge of the civilizations before the explosion was lost in the explosion. There." It always felt slightly awkward and slightly exhilarating to tell the truth. Merlin remembered when he told his story to Gwen and the knights that were left alive after the battle of Camlaan and its aftermath.

The others just stared at him even more forlornly, at which he ground his teeth in anger. He was stressed about what was going on with the weird, know it all sorcerer(ess). He was stressed about what was going on with Freya. He was especially stressed at the fact that Arthur had to face some unknown evil to help Albion and yet he was just staring at him like he was a junkie. Merlin was so done right about now.

"Alright. I've been nice. I've told the truth, which is something that I haven't done in a very long time. I tried to trust people and you accused me of using drugs. Well, if you want to talk to me anymore about my drug problem, I will be coming back on the five o'clock train this afternoon. Up until then, I will be hanging out with my real girlfriend at the Mystic Lakes in Winchester." He harrumphed before ending the communication.

The knights all sat back into their chairs. The girls sniffled and held their significant others' hand. Surprisingly, it was Mordred who spoke first, "What if," he began, "What if he was telling the truth about all of it?"

This time, the occupants of the round table all looked at him as if he were the one doing drugs. Mordred crunched in on himself, defensive, "What?"

Leon spoke slowly as if Mordred wasn't the same age as the rest of them, as if he was but a child, "Mordred, magic isn't real."

Mordred scowled fiercely at his friend, "Magic is real." He spat out, "I never told you this because, and I guess this is how Merlin felt, I felt like you would ridicule me. My religion is pagan. I follow the laws of the Old Religion as do my family. Some members of my family have been cursed with magic – it used to be a gift, you know – but that was a long time ago. Magic seems to have almost died out." The teens gaped at Mordred, unsure of how to react. They had known him all his life and yet they never knew this. And they knew for certain that he was not on drugs.

Lance spoke first, "What about that thing he said about the three hundred sorcerers or so? Does your religion teach that to be real?" Mordred nodded solemnly.

Arthur shook his head in denial, "No. No! This is all wrong. Magic is not real. Magic has never been real. If you want to change my incredibly firm belief on that, then show me magic. Prove to me that magic is real," he charged on without letting Mordred answer, almost as if he was afraid of what Mordred could show him, "I mean, if it was real, we would have known about it by now. And besides, the idea that we are reincarnated versions of some ancient king and his knights is ridiculous. Morgana isn't some… some witch and Mordred isn't a druid. Merlin is most definitely not a sorcerer."

Elyan put his finger in the air, "Warlock."

Arthur turned slowly to stare at him incredulously, "What did you just say?"

"Warlock. He's a warlock, not a sorcerer. The difference is that a warlock is born with his or her magic whereas a sorcerer has to learn theirs. Warlocks also can use magic instinctually and without spells, although, spells can help to focus their power." Elyan replied calmly. At the rest of the table, aside from Gwen and Mordred who were nodding sagely, turning incredulous stares his way, he said, "What? I live with Gaius, who, by the way, also happens to practice the Old Religion."

"That can't be a coincidence." Morgana muttered, talking to herself more than anyone.

The knights didn't know where to look. Gwen, Elyan, Mordred, and now Morgana had all seemed to accept this as the once and for all truth. But it couldn't be, could it? Lance frowned, his forehead crinkling in thought. His life was based ninety percent on science and logic and was having a hard time accepting something so illogical. He frowned deeper, saying slowly, "Maybe… maybe we should give Merlin a chance, somewhere other than his apartment, to show us the truth. Everything they said makes a confusing, illogical… magical sort of sense."

There was no arguing now. With Lance, ever the staunch believer in science and not magic, saying that there was an over fifty percent chance (they knew that because he never proposed an idea without it having an over fifty percent success rate) that magic was real, no one could possibly disagree. Except Arthur. Of course.

Arthur slammed his fist onto the table, "No! What has gotten into all of your heads? Magic. Is. Not. Real!"

Gwen slapped his arm, "Arthur! Shame on you! You should at least give him the benefit of the doubt."

"There is no doubt," Arthur growled, "I doubt nothing. Magic isn't real and you all are insane. When you get your brains from whatever magic pot of gold you left them in, come and find me. Until then, I don't want to hear another word about magic." He stalked out of the café, leaving the rest of his friends confused and more than a little afraid.

Merlin had finally gotten off of that awful train. He was in a pretty foul mood, and as such, wasn't as careful as usual. He should have just used teleportation. He was tired from all of the cross country teleporting he had to do recently with all the attacks and all the new supplies he needed. As these thoughts crossed his mind, he didn't see the person sneaking up behind him.

Merlin was also incredibly angry about his whole destiny and Arthur being reborn. Was it too hard for him and the other knights to believe in magic? Merlin had tried this time. He had planned everything out to a tee and yet, after only two weeks, he had screwed up his entire destiny. Again.

Then there was Freya. She had been acting very strangely when he talked to her and that concerned him. She had also been laying on the love talk pretty thick, which was nice, but unusual. And nothing should be unusual between a couple who have known each other for thousands of years.

Merlin had reached the clearing the butted right up against the lake, but was hidden from all other lake-goers. He waded into the water and smiled when Freya came into view. Then he frowned as he saw the tear tracks streaming down her face. "Freya, what's wrong?" Merlin was starting to panic.

"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry! They made me and they threatened me and I didn't know what else to do! They said that if I told you they would kill Arthur, and if I told someone other than you that they would kill you and who could I tell anyways?" Fresh tears were tracking their way down her face. "I'm so sorry!" She repeated.

Merlin held her face tenderly between his long fingers and he kissed her gently. "Freya," he soothed, "Freya, it's alright. Slow down and let me know what happened step by step. I love you and I forgive you. It will be okay."

"Oh will it?" A new voice sneered from behind them. Merlin turned, his arm partially wrapped around Freya's waist in protection. Merlin's eyes widened at the scene in front of him. He was not expecting this.

Arrayed in front of him in what could be called a defensive position (meaning the sniveling cowards without magic in back and the powerful people who actually ran the operations and have magic in front) was every villain he had ever faced. At least, not including Morgana and Mordred, for which he was grateful. There was Agravaine, Morgause, Nimueh, Alvarr, Aulfric, and Sofia. There was Edwin, Sigan, Tristan de Bois, and Dagr. Enmyria, Helios, Lamia, Kara, Kanen, Jarl, Mary Collins, Nollar. The gathering was so huge that Merlin could barely count.

His breath caught in his throat as he struggled to breathe. Being Merlin, his first thought was that he needed to warn Arthur and his second thought was that there was no way Arthur could take on all of these people at once. Merlin groped behind him and held onto Freya's hand, only to feel her twist his arm up behind his back and snarl in his ear, "Don't move or I'll break it."

"Freya?" Merlin was ashamed to admit that his voice broke and a tear or two trailed down his face. It was all just too much. The nightmares, the disbelief of those he had called friends, the gathering of every enemy he ever made reborn, and now Freya's betrayal. He felt rage start to coil and mix with his magic, but he pushed it down. Not yet, he told himself firmly, raising his head high to look at the converging crowd. He had told Arthur where he was going. They would find him. They would find him.

His thoughts turned fuzzier and fuzzier as Morgause whispered some ancient spell in tandem with Nimueh and his vision darkened. The last thing he saw before he fell into a sleep like death was Freya's cold, unsmiling face and he whispered so only she could hear him, "I forgive you."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey people! Thank you for all the really really nice reviews! Also, a thank you for all the people who have been following this story and marking it as a favorite. Since I left you with a pretty big cliffy, I've tried to update a bit sooner than last time. I'm thinking (not sure, but pretty sure) that this will be the second to last chapter other than an epilogue to tie up loose ends. So, again, hope you enjoy and pretty please keep up the reviews!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, or Freya, or Arthur, or any of the other characters I mentioned and am gaining no monetary profit from my story.

Merlin woke and he shuttered his eyelids so, hopefully, no one could tell he was awake, but he could still see what was going on. His breathing caught in his throat as he looked at the room around him. He wasn't at the lake anymore, or at least, he wasn't where he had been at the lake. How was Arthur and the knights going to find him? Merlin started to panic before he calmed himself down. He would not give these people the satisfaction of seeing him panic.

Speaking of people, there were a lot of people in the room. That meant that it was pretty large, so Merlin hoped that Arthur would be able to find a pretty large building with lots of noise coming from a lot of people talking. Although, Arthur was rather inobservant at inconvenient times. Merlin sighed and closed his eyes all the way again, his thoughts focused on his prattish king. The warlock shifted slightly only to find that he was bound by magic chains. Morgause's magical chains that she used to trap him with the serkets. Joy.

Of course, the movement Merlin made caused the chains to clink slightly and Morgause with her stupid hawk hearing heard it. She raised a hand for silence and Merlin figured that he should give up the pretense of sleep and resort to glaring instead. The glare he swept across the room sent many of his lesser enemies and even some of his greater enemies stumbling backwards in fear. Over the years, he had perfected this glare, practicing it on people who sat too close to him on subways.

Morgause, however, just smiled at him, showing teeth, "So the great Warlock awakens!" She mocked, "Do you remember us, Merlin? Or, sorry, I should call you Emrys. The greatest sorcerer to ever live! King of the druid people! Ha! More like fraud I say. He couldn't even keep his precious king alive. And now, he is alone and powerless to stop us. No one knows where he is, no one wants to find him, and even if they did, no one thinks to check under the lake for a hideout." The smile marring her face took a wicked turn and she laughed at him, inciting the laughter of all of Merlin's enemies.

Merlin glowered at her. Admittedly, he was sulking a little bit. This was not how he had wanted the day to turn out. Morgause just glowered right back until Merlin decided to speak, "So, which one of you hooligans was the one to figure out all of the information about me?"

Merlin frowned deeply when Kara stepped forward, "As you know, Emrys, I am a druid. There is an old druid spell that allows us to, when we are reborn, take back our memories. Nimueh was fighting you and remembered Emrys and she learned all she could about Emrys and his enemies. She put into the papers something that said for all enemies of Emrys to come to her. We all started to remember."

Nimueh picked up from there, her voice grating on Merlin's frayed nerves, "Once they got here, I asked who was a druid and Kara here said she was. I preformed a spell that enhanced her memory enough to remember the spell that allows us to remember everything else. She remembered and we got as many sorcerers and sorceresses as we could and went to the Lady of the Lake."

Then Morgause started talking, "At first, the Lady would have nothing to do with us and was going to warn you when we threatened her. That was what you heard at first. Then, when she calmed down enough for us to talk to her, Nimueh and I cast a spell on her. We are not controlling her, we only put a spell on her that enhances her emotions and we can choose what emotions to enhance when. Currently it is anger at you and at Arthur. That took an incredible amount of spell work to enhance, I must say."

Not paying attention, Merlin slumped (as much as one can slump when chained to a table) in relief. It wasn't really Freya doing this. She was under a spell. He only hoped that she could break out of the spell before Arthur and the knights got here.

Merlin interrupted Morgause wearily, "Spare me your talk and just tell me why I'm here."

Cendred walked up behind Morgause and put his hands on her shoulders, answering, "You are a creature of the Earth. No doubt if you died, the Earth would be very upset. Well, the magic people here created a spell that will trap the Earth's anger and fear and sadness and leave it for us to wield. We will be all powerful!"

Merlin stared at them, horrified, "That's your plan! Are you that absolutely STUPID? Don't you know that when Earth is mad, she takes it out on the entire planet? Your spell cannot hold all of that power even if it was centralized on this room."

Morgause and Nimueh looked at each and then looked at him, laughing. They thought he was just trying to convince them to let him go. They were going to get every living creature on the face of the Earth burnt to an ashy crisp.

It was six o'clock and Merlin had yet to pick up his phone. The former knights were starting to get worried. Merlin should have been back by now. What if he had thrown himself into the lake or something? Lance got up and started pacing. Everyone was at Gwen's house except for Arthur.

Gwaine tried Merlin's phone again, "Still no answer. Do you guys think he's okay? I mean, anything could have happened. We should go looking for him."

Gwen, ever the clear head, said, "Let's just wait for a little longer. I'm sure he'll be fine. If he really is magical like he said, I bet nothing could get him."

That's when Gaius, who had been hovering in the doorway, unbeknownst to the teens, spoke up, "If who is magical, might I ask?"

The whole group jumped and started spouting nonsense answers. Gaius just glared at them, eyebrow raised until Morgana caved, "Merlin says he's magical." She gave a much condensed version of what had happened yesterday and this day. It still took half an hour to finish the story.

When the tale was finished, Leon asked hesitantly, "Is it possible that we are reborn from knights and princesses and queens?"

Gaius' eyebrows furrowed in thought, "It is very possible. Poor boy, having to see all his friends and family back alive again and not have them recognize you. That would be awful."

"So what about his claim of being Emrys, Gaius? Do you think he's telling the truth?" Mordred pressed.

Gaius nodded solemnly and then asked, "You said that there was a magic bearer who was attacking Merlin and who knew him well enough to do things that he claimed only people who are now dead should know?" For a second the group only stared at him, unsure of what he was asking, then Percival nodded.

"Hmm." Gaius mused before pressing a button on the wall that opened to reveal a hidden room. Even Gwen and Elyan looked surprised as they all followed Gaius in. He reached up to the top of a bookshelf and pulled down a book, flipping through it, "There!" He cried, triumphant.

When the teenagers looked, all they saw was a writing in a different language and a bunch of squares and circles and strange shapes. Mordred, however, gasped, "That's a druid spell, very ancient by the looks of it. I didn't even know that was possible. It shouldn't be, right? You would have to get permission from the Lady of the Lake to do this."

Gaius nodded at him and spoke to the others, "This spell would allow the user to take the former memories of people as they leave Avalon to be reborn. In the first place, it is highly unusual for people to be reborn. Then, you would have to have a druid be reborn to know the spell in the first place, although, there is a chance that a high priestess of the Old Religion would know it. The problem is that neither of those exist. After meeting those requirements, you would, as Mordred said, have to get permission from the Lady of the Lake who has never done something like this before. The likelihood of this occurring is incredibly slim, but it is the only thing that makes sense. And if it is the case, then you are facing a very powerful sorcerer."

The knights looked at each other. "That means that Merlin is in trouble. He was supposed to be available by five o'clock. That's when he would be on the train." Elyan explained to his father figure.

"We have to go after him! Which, by the way, I already said that." Gwaine growled at them.

Gaius raised an eyebrow at Gwaine, causing the boy to pause, "If I am right, to fix your memories and to successfully get Merlin back, you will need everyone."

Percival was confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you are a group. You were reborn together. That is a powerful thing, meaning that you must have been close when you were alive before. That entire group has to be there: Sir Lancelot, Sir Mordred, Queen Gweneviere, Princess Morgana, Sir Leon, Sir Gwaine, Sir Percival, Sir Elyan, and, yes, King Arthur." Gaius answered solemnly.

Gwen, who had become excited when she realized there was a way to save Merlin, deflated, "But, Gaius, Arthur won't listen. He just gives us the cold shoulder and says that we are all crazy. How can we convince him?"

"That is up to you. You are his queen and I am sure you can find a way. Meanwhile, I suggest that the rest of you let your parents know that you might not be home for a day or two. I will find a way to reverse the spell, although I presume that Merlin knows a way." Gaius suggested.

As the knights and Morgana went to call their parents, Gwen called Arthur.

"Have you forgotten all about that stupid magic thing Gwen?"

"That's a great way to say hello to someone Arthur. And no, I haven't. No! Do not dare interrupt me! Listen to what I have to say. Merlin is missing. I know you would never admit it, but I can tell that Merlin has become your best friend and right now, he is missing. So I do not care whether you believe in magic or not, you will come to my house right this instant and you will come with us to find Merlin. Then, you will apologize for being a… an… insufferable prat! Is that understood?"

"…"

"Arthur Pendragon, you answer me this instant!"

"Where did you learn that word?"

"What? What word?"

"Prat. Where did you learn that word? Gwen, this is important! I need to know where you learned that word!"

"I… I didn't learn it anywhere. I have no idea where that came from. I've never heard that word before in my life!"

"I'm coming."

"What?"

"I said I'm coming. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Of… of course. Yes, sorry. Please, come quickly."

Gwen hung up feeling thoroughly confused. The rest of the knights ambled over, Lance giving her a concerned glance before asking, "Is he coming?"

The former queen surprised them all with an abrupt question, "Have any of you heard the word prat before?" They looked at each other and shook their heads. Gwen sighed and said, "Oh, and yes, Arthur is coming." The gathering sighed in relief and Morgana patted Gwen on the back.

A half an hour later, the group had commandeered a train car and was riding toward Mystic Lakes in Winchester where Merlin had been heading that morning. Arthur was most definitely not sulking in a chair by himself while the rest planned. They were talking about how to avoid magical blows for goodness sake! What was wrong with them?

Though, Arthur couldn't really talk. He had spent the past half hour going over his life trying to figure out why the word prat made him feel so right inside. Insults don't make people feel warm and fuzzy. So why was this one?

Soon, Arthur couldn't stand chasing that word around his head anymore and so he moved to sit beside Gwen in the attempted circle of friends. Mordred was talking.

"There really isn't any way to avoid a blow unless you have magic on your side or you are good at rolling out of the way. The problem is that they know us. They have our memories and really, we are the same person as we were before."

Arthur interrupted them, "Has anyone heard the word prat before?" The effect was instantaneous. Arthur's head started to spin and then he blacked out.

Arthur was pouring himself a drink when Merlin walked into the room. He looked more serious than Arthur ever remembered seeing him. Arthur said, "Ah, Merlin," in what he hoped was a laid back manner. He was trying to put his manservant at ease, trying to break the stone that had become his expression.

Merlin just asked, "How are you?"

Arthur frowned to himself, but answered nonetheless, "Good."

Merlin said something, but Arthur wasn't really listening, not that he ever did, "Yes, and I owe it all to Gaius." 

Merlin seemed to almost laugh at that, which made Arthur feel a bit better about the boy, but then Merlin spoke again, "I need to talk to you." That made Arthur not feel a bit better. Now he was starting to get truly concerned. Merlin was never this serious.

So Arthur said, "You still haven't got it yet, have you?" Merlin gave him a questioning look and then Arthur continued, "I decide when we need to talk." Arthur glanced quickly at Merlin over the rim of his cup.

Then Merlin, ever the insubordinate idiot, said, "Not today." He looked down at his boots and Arthur turned his head towards the boy and raised his eyebrows.

"I sometimes wonder if you know who I am." Arthur asked condescendingly.

"Oh I know who you are." Merlin smiled and walked closer, finally leaving his post at the door. Arthur still wondered where this was going.

He decided to play along with whatever game his manservant was playing, "Good." 

Merlin walked ever closer and his grin grew ever wider, "You're a prat." Arthur rolled his eyes and lowered his cup, glaring at the peasant. "And a royal one." Merlin continued. 

Arthur laughed and asked, setting down his cup, "Are you ever going to change, Merlin?"

"No," he answered sarcastically, "You'd get bored." Arthur clutched his shoulder and rolled it. His whole arm still hurt. Merlin was talking again, "Promise me this, if you get another servant, don't get a bootlicker."

Arthur was thoroughly confused now; "If this is you trying to leave your job…" he left the rest hanging.

Merlin answered quickly, "No. I'm happy to be your servant. Till the day I die." Arthur looked at him, his concern growing by the second. He would never admit it, but he really liked this serving boy, and he was afraid of what he meant by that statement, touched, but afraid. 

The two looked at each other seriously for a second before Arthur said, "Sometimes I think I know you, Merlin." He paused, "Other times…"

Merlin was already answering, "Well, I know you." Arthur glanced at him as he continued, "You're a great warrior. One day, you'll be a great king."

Arthur wasn't at all sure what he had done to inspire that kind of confidence or emotion. But the way Merlin said it, it sounded as if he didn't think that he would be there to see Arthur be a great king, "That's very kind of you."

Then Merlin went on and ruined the moment, "But you must learn to listen as well as you fight." 

Arthur rolled his eyes, thinking that of course he had to add instructions in there, "Any other pointers?"

"No." Merlin answered, hanging his head. He sounded as if he were close to tears, resigned, "That's all… just… don't be… a prat." Arthur looked after him, his concern very real and very prominent now as the boy walked out the door and shut it behind him.

"Arthur? Arthur? Are you alright? Oh my goodness, Arthur!" Gwen was holding on to him and shaking him slightly. Arthur groaned and blinked open his eyes and she stopped rocking back and forth.

"Arthur, are you alright?" Lance asked as he pulled Arthur to his feet. Arthur nodded distractedly and sat down.

Mordred frowned at them, "Better question yet, what did you remember?" Everyone looked at Mordred, shocked, and then they turned their gazes onto Arthur.

Arthur then frowned at Mordred, "I didn't remember anything. The only reason it seemed like I did is because you all were talking about it before I fell asleep." At Gwen's nudge, he sighed and told them what he had seen in his blackout, finishing with, "But it wasn't real!"

Mordred was excited, "It says in the manuscript that the spell can only last a certain amount of time, but it doesn't say how long. I bet the spell is breaking down and now, if its triggered, our memories are returning!"

Lance jumped in with, "Let's try it. Okay, um, Gwen, when was the first time you met Merlin?" The effect, as before, was instantaneous.

Gwen watched as the boy in the stocks was pelted with a mixture of rotted fruit and vegetables. She felt bad as she heard him say, "Oh no." as more children came and he looked down to avoid getting hit in the face as much. Gwen stifled a smile and walked towards him.

The boy watched as Gaius walked past and laughed at him. That was unusual. Gaius was nice to everyone and he certainly wouldn't laugh at them. The boy yelled, "Thanks!" and Gaius laughed harder. The children finally ran out of food and Gwen deemed it safe to come near.

"I'm Gweneviere, but most people call me Gwen." She felt slightly bad for making him angle his neck like that to see her. It had to hurt. "I'm the Lady Morgana's maid." She finished.

"Right. I'm Merlin." He pushed his hand as far as it could go to shake hers and she smiled. "Though, most people just call me idiot." Merlin added once they finished shaking hands.

"No. No, no, I saw what you did. So brave!" Gwen replied enthusiastically. No one ever stood up to Arthur like that.

Merlin smiled and looked away, "It was stupid."

Gwen smiled as he looked back, "Well, I'm glad you walked away. You weren't going to beat him."

Merlin scoffed, "Oh, what? I could beat him."

"You could?" Gwen looked him over. Merlin was skinnier than most of the girls at court, which was saying something. He was also very tall and gangly. "Because you don't look like one of these big muscly kind of fellows." She added.

He slightly frowned at her, "Thanks."

"No!" Gwen widened her eyes. She hadn't meant to offend, "No, no, I'm sure you're stronger than you look. It's just, um, Arthur's one of these rough, tough, save the world kind of men." Merlin was looking more and more offended as she went on. 

"Well," Gwen continued.

"What?" He was still frowning at her.

"You don't look like that." Gwen kind of curled back a little bit, feeling bad for what she said. Merlin looked around him and beckoned her closer.

"I'm in disguise." He told her quietly. 

Gwen laughed loudly and he chuckled. Gwen said, "Well, it's great you stood up to him."

"You think so?" Merlin continued to laugh quietly.

"Arthur's a bully." Gwen stated firmly, "And everyone thought you were a real hero." Gwen thought silently to herself that she hoped that this made up for her earlier insult. 

"Really?" Merlin asked quietly. Gwen nodded. She really liked him, he was sweet and such a happy person, even when in the stocks. "Oh, excuse me, Gweneviere," he continued, "My fans awaiting."

Gwen looked out into the market and saw that the children had gathered more baskets of rotted produce to throw. Gwen laughed and ran off, looking behind her at his smiling face as she left.

Gwen woke up in Arthur's arms, "I remembered! I remember meeting Merlin! The first time." She giggled quietly, "He was in the stocks." She then proceeded to tell them what she remembered, ignoring Arthur's indignant squeak and the other's laughter.

Arthur smiled, but then realized that this meant that magic was real. This… this remembering meant that everything Merlin had said was the truth. He wasn't sure that he could properly focus on that. It was just too big of a concept. Everything he had been taught, everything his father had ever told him about magic, was wrong. It was all wrong.

Gwaine looked at Arthur and caught the 'I just got hit by a train' look. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Is is really so amazing that you were an oversized bully in a past life?"

Arthur shook his head, "No," he answered distractedly, "It's just that I realized that magic is real. And that, since magic is real, Merlin is actually in trouble. Serious trouble."

Elyan glowered at him, "You think?" Gwen smacked Elyan's arm and he murmured an apology to Arthur who was starting to lose the 'I just got hit by a train' look. Arthur then nodded that he was okay and the group, finally together (aside from Merlin, of course), continued to plan their rescue attempt.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: I am so sorry that it has been so long since I last updated, but, unfortunately, school must come before fan fiction. Nevertheless, the awaited finale is finally here. Hopefully I will be able to put the epilogue up soon after, and the story will be finished. As per usual, please review, and enjoy!

After Arthur and his knights got off the train (with absolutely no plan), they asked the nearest bystander where the Mystic Lake was. The kind girl gave them directions and they started that way.

It was eight o'clock by the time they got to the lake, and it was nearly deserted. Merlin was nowhere in sight and neither was Freya.

"What do we do now?" Gwaine asked. He was continuously running his hands through his hair and it was starting to get on Arthur's nerves.

"We find Merlin, obviously!" Arthur growled at him.

Gwaine just stared at him, unperturbed, "I have no idea how you ended up leading us in your past life. It just doesn't make sense. I can see everyone else being who they were, but I don't see you being a leader. Well, I don't see myself serving you either, but whatever." The group was trying to avoid using phrases that could potentially trigger flashbacks.

They had figured out that the terms Merlin, king, knights, and question words triggered flashbacks. So far, there had been only a few other memories and they were all secretly dreading the memory of their death.

Lance stepped between Arthur and Gwaine before they started to truly fight, "Come on guys, we need to work together. Let's think this through. We're looking for a place that buts up against the water. It has to be somewhere that other people cannot see nor hear. Most people wouldn't take well to seeing a lady rise from the water."

Arthur deflated and visibly calmed himself, "You're right. It'll probably be in a wooded area. The trees muffle sounds and allow for no visibility from at least three sides."

The other knights nodded, thinking. Mordred spoke up, "I snagged a map a while earlier. I found something that could work, but it's at least an hour away."

"Alright, we'll go there. Elyan, I want you to stay with Morgana and Gweneviere and keep them safe, understood?" Arthur instructed.

Gwen crossed her arms across her chest and lifted her head high. Morgana repeated this stance and said sternly, "No! There is absolutely no way that we are going to stay here while one of our best friends is missing and possibly kidnapped. Do you understand me?"

Arthur gaped slightly at Morgana while Leon sniggered, happy that for once Morgana's attitude was aimed at someone else. After a few seconds, Arthur nodded his consent and murmured something about Gwen spending too much time with Morgana. The two girls smiled at each other gleefully before turning and following the knights.

An hour later found the heroes at the self same grove that Merlin had been in hours ago. There was no one there.

Gwaine punched a tree and swore loudly, startling some birds from their nests. They heard a splash in the water and turned to look upon a mystical sight. The gates of Avalon stood ajar, about eighty percent below the water. They could hear the sound of many people talking and laughing behind the doors.

Coming out from inside the doors and rising above the water was a girl. She was wearing a gorgeous, medieval looking, mauve and purple gown with gold threading and ribbon. She had mesmerizing eyes and a haunted yet beautiful face. Her black hair hung loose behind her as she regarded them with curiosity. It was Freya.

"Freya! I'm so glad we found you! Have you seen Merlin?" Morgana called out to the girl who was sweeping her gaze across the clearing.

Freya's eyes landed on Arthur's and froze with hatred. The heroes stilled as they watched Freya stalk closer to their king. When she spoke, it was so cold and… evil that they could hardly believe this was the same girl who had pronounced her love of Merlin not so long ago, "Of course I have seen Merlin. I helped capture him after all. And look who shows up to save him! Ha! The infamous Arthur Pendragon! You killed me! And still my love took care of you. He didn't even grieve for me you know. He didn't want you to find out he was hiding anything. He was too scared. You know, Merlin was afraid that you were going to kill him when you found out about his magic.

"But what you did was worse. You tore him apart with two words. He showed you his magic and you, the great king, the once and future king, loved by all his people, said to him, 'Leave me,' when you found out. You are a monster! You deserve to die. So does Merlin. He has lived far too long on borrowed time. Soon, he will be dead and will join me in Avalon. There, we can truly be together and I can let go of my hatred. We will finally be together." Freya finished.

Truth be told, Arthur was panicking. He had no idea what to do. Then he thought, what would Merlin do. He thought about all of the days that he knew Merlin in this life. He thought about the few memories that returned of his old life. And he knew what Merlin would say.

Arthur raised his chin and looked Freya right in the eye and said, "Freya, I am sorry I killed you and I am sorry Merlin angered you. That is no excuse to do what you are doing and I know that you love him with all your heart. You must be spelled then. So, I forgive you Freya Avalon. I forgive you."

For a second, Freya couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't speak. He said she was under a spell. He said sorry. He forgave her. And, she remembered, Merlin forgave her as well.

Then, the spell was broken. It only took three words spoken twice, once by the Once and Future King, and once by his Warlock. Freya, who was by now at the edge of the water, stumbled, and was only saved from falling by Percival reaching out to grab her arm. The big knight smiled at her.

Once he let go, Freya sat down hard. She started to cry and the entire lake started to shift and tumble and crash against the shore. "What have I done?" Freya cried, "I betrayed Merlin! Even under a spell I shouldn't have betrayed him. I hurt him too! And now they're going to kill him and I can't do anything. I have promised to stay out of Avalon until either they come out, or Merlin does." She started to cry harder.

Gwen went and sat next to the girl, rubbing relaxing circled on her back and murmuring soothing words to her. Eventually, Freya quieted and asked, "What can I do to help?"

Arthur nodded at her, "You can start by telling us where Merlin is."

Freya swallowed and took a deep breath, "They are keeping him in an outer room of Avalon. It is where, if you have the correct devices and spells, you can visit the dead. They are using it to focus the power of the Earth when they kill Merlin at midnight. It is also an opportune room to keep your memories stored. When they released the memories of Camelot, they released yours as well, but they captured those and used them to psyche Merlin out enough to come visit me. It worked." She finished bitterly.

"Can you get us in there?" Lance asked eagerly. He must be spending too much time with Gwaine. He was starting to want to rush into battle headfirst instead of strategizing.

Freya nodded but then said, "But first, you must know that every enemy that Merlin has ever faced is in that room right now. The only exceptions are Morgana and Mordred, who Merlin redeemed by trusting them. They also do not have magic this time around."

Mordred and Morgana looked down at their feet. They did not want their memories to come back. They didn't want to remember betraying their friends.

Arthur looked at them sympathetically before asking, "Is there a way to get us in there unnoticed?"

Freya thought and then her eyes lit up, "Merlin taught me a spell a while back to make me invisible, just in case I couldn't dissolve in time. But it will only last for ten minutes. You have to have a plan before you go in. Oh! Oh my goodness!"

"What is it?" Asked Gwen hesitantly. She had been sitting next to the girl when she surged up and stumbled farther into the water.

Freya reached into the door into Avalon and pulled out a sword. It was Excalibur and it practically sang as Freya returned it to its rightful owner and said, "Now, you can make your plan. This sword will cut through anything, living or dead."

The knights nodded and started to strategize.

The end result was this: Arthur would take the magical sword and cut through the chains or handcuffs or ropes or whatever Merlin had that was keeping him there. The knights would stand in front of Arthur in case they started to become visible again. The girls and Elyan would stand by the entrance and stop anyone from leaving. They hoped that Merlin would take the rest from there.

The group snuck into the large room and nodded as Gwen, Elyan, and Morgana took their places. They quickly rushed along the edges of the room until they reached the front. Gwaine, Mordred, Percival, Lance, and Leon stood in front of the table that Merlin was laid on.

Merlin thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head. What in the world did Arthur and the knights think they were doing here? At least, he hoped it was Arthur and the knights. He could only see an outline made of Freya's forest green magic, but there was one very large one and one with flawless hair, so he assumed so. That's when Arthur sat on his haunches next to Merlin and started to saw through his chains. With Excalibur.

On the one hand, that was good because it meant that Freya was released from the spell, but on the other, how long would it be before Nimueh and Morgause noticed the copious amounts of magic just pouring off of the sword. It was forged in a dragon's breath, it had powerful magic.

He heard Arthur quietly whisper to Mordred, who was closest to help him make sure the chains didn't rattle when he finally got it off. Merlin glared at them out of the corner of his eye and whispered just as quietly, "Arthur! What are you doing here?"

At any other time, seeing and Arthur made out of green magic do a double take might have been funny, but not at the brink of almost certain death for everyone he loved.

Arthur continued to cut through the chains as he asked, "How can you see us?"

"I can see magic, and I didn't think you believe in magic anyways. But that's not the point. What are you doing here, it's dangerous?" Merlin pressed.

"We know it's dangerous, idiot! That's why we're rescuing you. And I've had some… flashbacks to my time in Camelot, so I know you're telling the truth."

"What?" Merlin asked, but Arthur was saved from answering when the chains finally gave way to his sword and Mordred barely kept them still. Slowly, carefully, they inched them off until Merlin was able to roll off the table with no one noticing.

He whispered to Arthur, "So now what's the plan?"

Gwaine came back towards them and hunkered down, "We were hoping you could help us with that mate. You see, the spell only lasts us ten minutes." Ironically enough, at that moment, the spell wore off and the assembly grew silent as they saw the intruders appear.

Merlin glared at Arthur in a promise to talk about this later before he weaved his way through his friends and to the front of their group.

For a moment, Merlin could see fear in Morgause's and Nimueh's eyes, but they hid it quickly. Morgause drawled, "Oh look, Emrys' little knights have come to rescue him. How sweet."

Merlin's voice was powerful when he spoke, "Give it up Morgause. Go peacefully back to death or I will force you there. You have a choice and you will not get another. Besides your idea was stupid anyways."

Nimueh snarled at him, "You always think that you are so smart. Even against two High Priestesses you can't figure it out. You cannot win every fight, and you will lose this one." She raised her hands into the air and started to chant. Her eyes flared gold as fire filled her cupped hands.

Merlin didn't have time for words when the sorceress threw the ball of fire. With a swish of his head, his friends were pushed out of the way and he held his hand in front of him and stopped the ball. He moved his hand in a circular motion behind the flame and watched as it extinguished itself and came back to life with two golden flares of his eyes.

He smirked at Nimueh, "Look familiar?" He pushed his hand outward and it flew at Nimueh, hitting her square in the chest and flinging her to the ground. Her 'loyal' followers parted to avoid getting his by her falling body.

Unlike him however, she didn't get back up. Merlin's eyes stayed gold as he turned his gaze towards Morgause, "Will you really fight me Morgause? I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to. My loyalties lie only with my king and I will do anything to protect him."

Morgause tried to keep a neutral face and even tried for an evil smirk, but she didn't quite make it. "I don't need to fight you. I have others to do it for me. Attack." At her command, the hundreds of enemies crowded behind her surged forward.

Merlin sighed, evidently they were braver when they thought they had the advantage of numbers. The knights watched, awed as Merlin swung his head one way or the other, flinging about ten people at a time into the wall with bone crushing force.

Eventually, only a few stood behind Morgause.

Merlin faced some of his worst enemies and he smiled. He feared them no longer. They stared back at him, finally fearing him as they should. Morgause, Agravaine, Cendred, Tristan de Bois, Edwin, Cornelius Sigan.

Merlin spoke again, his eyes still a molten gold color, "This is your last chance. Flee with your lives and do not return. If you do, I will be waiting for you."

At this statement, all but Morgause fled. She stared resolutely up at him, "I will never flee from you Emrys. You killed my sister and you took her rightful throne from her and gave it to him." She snarled as she turned her head to indicate Arthur.

Morgause froze when a hand was placed on her shoulders. Morgana walked around Morgause and smiled to the side of her. Merlin had a full view of both their faces.

Morgana smiled again, "I don't remember you. Not really, anyways. I know that when you say sister, you mean me, but I have no idea who you are. Please, if you are my sister, then I was wrong. I was wrong to betray my family and my friends. I was wrong to hate Merlin or to fear him. It was wrong to kill my family and friends. It was wrong of me to join you. For that, I am sorry. Maybe it was my fault that you ended up so evil. Maybe it was your fault that I ended up so evil. I don't know, but I'm not evil anymore. I have a family and I have friends and Merlin forgives me. So you can rest in peace now knowing that I am avenged."

Morgause put her hand lightly on Morgana's face, as if to check that she was real, "Sister?" Morgana nodded, tears in her eyes. Morgause smiled a true smile. One of pure joy. Then she faded back into the mists of Avalon.

Morgana sobbed as her hand fell into thin air. Gwen and Merlin came up behind her and held her close to them. Eventually, everyone joined into a hug and Avalon faded from around them and they ended up on the shores of the Mystic Lake.

Merlin released Morgana when he saw Freya standing near the shore. "Freya?" He called.

She smiled hesitantly at him, but he ran to her, arms outstretched. He enveloped her in a hug and she cried into his shoulder. All was forgiven between them.

In the next few hours, the knights and royalty regained all of their memories and they came to terms with the things they did and the things they didn't do. They thanked Merlin and all begged for forgiveness for the wrongs they did to him. He forgave them easily.

They stayed there until the sun came up, talking and laughing and comparing stories. A new dawn filled the horizon and finally, finally, Merlin's world was truly complete.


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey everyone! This is the final installment of Evil on the Rise, the epilogue. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review one last time, and enjoy the story!
> 
> PS: I left it with a pretty open ending, so if anyone wants to continue the story and lead them into some other adventure, have at it. I would just appreciate if you would let me know so I could read it!

"Merlin!" Came a shout from outside his door, an insistent knocking accompanying it. Merlin groaned and shifted a little, feeling Freya's bowl next to him. He scrubbed his eyes open and looked at the clock blearily. It was almost five in the afternoon.

Merlin struggled to remember last night's events. He remembered the massive all-nighter Merlin and his friends had pulled. He remembered everyone leaving Gwen's house at seven in the morning. He had then gone home, talked to Freya and started watching television with her basin in his lap. Said television was still on.

"Merlin, come out this instant!" Mithian's voice was shrill and commanding, her tiny fists almost bringing down the door of Merlin's apartment.

It was exactly one year after Merlin had been kidnapped and his enemies had almost destroyed the earth. Arthur and the knights decided that they were going to have a celebration to commemorate their remembrance of their past at five this day. Evidently five was an important number because that was when they had realized Merlin was missing.

Many rather spectacular things had happened when they returned. For one, all of their parents remembered their deaths and their lives in Camelot. The second Gaius had remembered, he had called everyone's parents and had been with them when they remembered and through the initial freak out.

At first, they were inclined to believe in a massive gas leak causing hallucinations among the people of this town. Then, they thought that their children had been pumping drugs through the vents (and you wonder where the knights got the idea from). Eventually, they started to accept the idea. Surprisingly enough, it was Uther who had first said that Gaius spoke the truth. The other parents took his word as law.

Then, after many tense hours of waiting, Arthur, Gwen, Morgana, Merlin, and the knights returned. There followed several awkward hours of accusations and comparing of memories. Uther took some convincing that magic was not evil and Morgana took some convincing that her father was not evil. Merlin explained many things about their pasts, his past, and their present. He and Gaius acted as mediators for all of the parents and their children.

After the initial shock, anger, and fear had worn off, the parents all thanked Merlin profusely for everything he had done for their children and they commiserated with him over his many lonely years.

The knights and former Camelotians walked Merlin home. They were startled to see Mithian curled up on his couch. The moment the door slammed open and close quickly (Merlin knew that Mithian was there due to the fallen piece of paper), Mithian flew from the couch and promptly punched Merlin in the face. Then she hugged him. Then she kicked him in the knee.

As Merlin was cringing in pain, Percival asked what she thought she was doing. She explained that she just remembered all that had happened in Camelot. Merlin was surprised. He hadn't thought of the fact that she would remember. He grinned sheepishly and she forgave him.

All across the world, missing persons reports went out, reporting the disappearance of all those that had been in that outer room of Avalon that day. The school replaced Morgause and Agravaine and tried to explain away the disappearance of Edwin, Tristan, and Gilli. No one really believed them and the students of Camelot high came up with their own rumors.

A few months later, Percival and Mithian started dating. Arthur and Gwen, and Morgana and Leon, and Merlin and Freya were still dating and, if anything, their relationships had strengthened. Gwaine had been switching partners almost daily, but his current girlfriend had been with him for at least three weeks now, which was longer than any other. Elyan, Mordred, and Lancelot were still searching for their perfect partners.

Merlin was torn from his musings by the sound of Finna calling his name. She and Alator had gotten married as promised and had also remembered their histories. After a brief talk with Merlin, they came to accept it and they also learned to accept all of Merlin's friends.

"I'm coming!" Merlin shouted. He pulled on his outfit (Gwen and Morgana had joined Freya in trying to get Merlin to change outfits, but so far he was still refusing) whilst using magic to brush his teeth and comb his hair.

In about two minutes flat, he opened the door and saw that Finna, Alator, Mithian, and Percival were all waiting for him and Freya (meaning her bowl, of course). Merlin rolled his eyes and started down the stairs, listening to the others chatter behind him.

He walked outside to see… a small army of limos. Merlin realized that Uther was rich, but this was slightly ridiculous. They were all going to a school football game and then celebrating afterwards at the Pencil Shaker. Finna had made sure that a special room was always reserved for them.

Merlin rolled his eyes again and pulled himself into the limo with Arthur in it. The two had become as inseparable as they had been years ago. So far, Merlin had yet to see any signs of aging, but he was still hoping that his curse was at an end and that he would die alongside his friends. He was nothing if not optimistic.

And so, a year after the rise of great evil and the coming of King Arthur, Merlin spent the night with his girlfriend and his best friends. They talked of times long past and times only a year gone. Merlin and Freya shared stories of the twenty five thousand years the rest missed and Arthur and the knights shared stories of the fifteen years of their lives that they missed.

For the moment, everything was peaceful. They all knew that destiny was not finished with them, that they had yet to unite Albion and to bring magic back to the land, but that was for another time. For now, the only thing that mattered was that they had found each other again after so, so many years.


End file.
